Demonic Blood Human Soul
by Sryler
Summary: Yoma and Half Demon Women, sounds like a paradise for a certian Devil Hunter. Join Dante as he travels through the Universe of Claymore in the crossover that is the first of its time. DanteXClare RakiXPriscilla VergilX? Post DMC3
1. Redgrave

**Now before you all start shitting bricks don't worry, We can write two fics at a time. Yes, this is a joint fic.**

**I am srobertson**

**_I am SugarHighBadger_**

**I will have the next chapter of Right The Wrongs up soon.**

**_I don't care because I'm just the idea guy._**

**But both the fics on this profile are my idea?**

**_But who do you ask constantly for advice?_**

**I like input, and LeafRanger doesn't read Claymore, well I tried getting him to but I don't know how far he's gotten.**

**_I don't like his fics. The fights are good but I hate the pairing._**

**To those reading this you should know that SugarHighBadger hates Hinata with an unholy passion. He also feels the same way about Orihime. **

**_Damn Skippy!!!_**

**I, however, am not ashamed to admit my status as a NaruHina fanboy. **

**_But you will still bash Orihime right?_**

**Not like some people. (VFSNAKE, I love your fics but could you please make Sasuke at least a decent bad guy. He dies to easily.) If I don't like a character then they will probably be bashed but not in an overly obvious way. **

**_So why did you want to do this fic, I mean, Superior of the InBetween kicks ass. _**

**Claymore is about an all female group of half demons that kill demons. Dante is a cocky half demon who kills demons but is a natural half demon, the Claymores are main character of Claymore is emotionally closed off. Dante (With the exception of DMC2 but that I think could be Dante's Nobody. KH DMC crossover maybe?) on the other hand has no problems with expressing his feelings. He is also a total badass. This is a crossover that was ment to be and I am proud that I get to be the first one to attempt it. **

**_We are all happy for you._**

**Hey, you'll get your time in the spotlight to. All of your ideas kick ass... even if they do involve Hinata bashing. I mean, that Naruto LOTR crossover idea kicked major ass, also Bleach Prototype, who would have thunk?**

**_I am awesome :)_**

**Well, do you think this fic will be recieved well?**

**_It seems O.K._**

**I'm worried. Not that many people know about Claymore. To those who haven't read or watched Claymore, do it. The fights kick ass. Also, the characters aren't dressed in skimpy outfits but still look good. There is no sexism. There is nudity though. But that has perpose, it's not like "Hey, look, boobs." I higly recomend it to everyone.**

* * *

Three Claymore faced off against a male awakened being. The awakened being, a horrifying creature with six arms and an angular face with pointed horns and a hideous mouth filled with sharp teeth and a tongue that it had used to immobilize the leader of the party.

Miria screamed as the awakened being tortured her on the ground. The awakened being cackled as it moved its knife-like tongue through her insides, relishing her screams of pain and agony. It then noticed that the claymore that it had impaled just moments ago was swinging her sword directly at its skull. He rose up one of his arms and caught her around her midsection and held her there.

The claymore struggled fruitlessly in its grasp, unable to free herself. She then suddenly went limp and stopped moving.

"What, I wasn't holding you too hard. Don't tell me your dead already." The awakened being growled. He felt a power surge and looked at the Claymore and saw her features distort as her eyes turned yellow and gained cat like pupils. "Let me go!" She growled menacingly.

Miria, who was still pinned by the creature gasped. "No Clare, don't do it. If you use to much of your youma…" Her voice was cut off as the creature put more pressure in her.

"No, witch, use it all. I would love to see what kind of awakened being you would make." The creature teased.

Clare however had different ideas. She smiled evilly, displaying the shark-like teeth that the youma energy manifested onto her body. She flexed her arms and broke free of the awakened beings grip. As soon as she hit the ground she leapt forwards and swept her sword in a crossways slash that cut the tongue that tortured her comrade in half. Clare then grabbed Miria and in one swift motion pulled the offending object out of her abdomen and carried her to the place that Helen and Deneve lay.

"Clare, how…?" Helen struggled to ask.

"Don't speak." Clare instructed as she turned to face the awakened being.

"You bitch, I'm gonna kill you for this." The creature growled.

"I doubt it." Clare said simply, the effects of the youma energy fading away. She slowly began to walk towards the awakened being, her sword held out to the side.

The awakened being wasted no time in leaping forwards and bearing her to the ground. Pinning Clare's arms and body beneath its weight the awakened being began to pummel her into the ground. Clare's cal expression never changed, even as she was hammered into the ground by the awakened beings punches.

"Why…won't…you…scream?" The creature breathed between each punch. Clare remained silent. With a howl of anger the awakened being hurled her into the cliff beside them and hurled her sword after her. Clare bounced off the cliff before being impaled to the rock with her own weapon. Her expression didn't change.

"Are you dead yet Claymore?" The awakened being growled. "Well I guess I should make sure!" He lifted one of his hands and watched gleefully as the fingers extended and impaled Clare across her body. Clare's expression didn't change. She slumped forewords and appeared to expire, the same expressionless look upon her face.

"Mocking me to the end huh?" The awakened being growled angrily as it extracted its fingers from Clare's body. It turned towards Miria, Helen and Deneve. "Looks like I'll have to let my anger out on you." The three claymores looked on in fear, realizing that there was no escape for them. The awakened being had given them what it had promised, absolute despair. It had allowed it to appear that they had had hope and then taken it away. It was all over.

"Getting better…"

"What!" The awakened being muttered as he turned around to see that Clare's body was missing from the cliff.

"It still wasn't enough however." Came Clare's voice from behind the awakened being. It turned around just as Clare's sword entered his shoulder. Screaming in rage he turned around to see that the Claymore who moments ago had been impaled on her own sword standing before it. No, she wasn't standing, she was floating. The tattered cape that adorned her back had split in two and extended down past her feet like a pair of wings. Her eyes had changed to; the sclera had become black while the iris still retained its silver color. Dark veins extended across parts of her face and hands. She smiled revealing lengthened canines.

"Clare… how…" gasped Helen from where she lay.

Clare turned her head to face Miria, Helen and Deneve. "Stay there, don't move. I'll be done momentarily." She turned towards the awakened being. "Normally I wouldn't resort to this but time has forced my hand."

Miria stared on at her in shock as Clare flew forwards and swung her sword down at the awakened being. Unsurprisingly the creature dodged and attempted to slash her as she went by.

"To slow." Clare whispered as she blurred into existence behind the creature. It started to turn, fear evident in its eyes.

Clare promptly struck its head from it shoulders. The body collapsed, purple blood spurting from the stump that the beings head had once occupied. The three incapacitated claymores looked on in awe as the forty-seventh member of the organization sliced the flying head into pieces with a series of brutal and fast strikes. Soon, nothing but silence filled the air. Clare turned around to face her fellow claymores. They recoiled slightly, obviously frightened by her new appearance and the ease of which she had decimated the awakened being.

"Great job!" Came a voice from atop the cliff. Upon hearing the voice Clare flicked her sword to rid it of any blood. She floated calmly to the ground and sighed as she returned to her normal form, cape shortening and eyes turning white again.

"I'm glad I performed to your standards." Clare called up to the figure which had appeared on top of the cliff. Miria, Helen and Deneve all glanced to the location of the voice and watched in awe as the owner of the voice, a man, jumped from the top of the cliff and landed in front of them. White hair framed blue eyes. A red coat adorned a bare chest and a massive sword hung across the man's back as well as two strangely shaped objects that looked to be some kind of weapons. He looked to be anywhere from eighteen to twenty five and a large smile lay plastered across his features. The most shocking part of it was that the three Claymores sensed an energy signature similar to their own.

"Well I certainly hit the jackpot on this one." He said as he began to walk towards them, a hint of lechery in his voice but not enough to invoke a violent response.

Deneve through a haze of pain thought, _who is this guy?_

_What is this guy?_ Miria thought.

_Oh my God Hotness!!!_ Helen practically screamed in her head. _Clare knows this guy! How could she get that lucky?_

"I can guess what you are all thinking," Clare stated, "No he is not a male Claymore. His name is Dante. He saved my life."

_City of Rabona: Two and a Half Weeks Earlier…_

The man named Dante walked down the road towards the gates of the large holy city. Storing his sword and guns in his own personal inter-dimensional pocket he approached the guard at the gate. Upon giving him a visual inspection and making sure he wasn't carrying any weapons he waved him on through. Dante's mind was elsewhere however. He had located a source of demonic energy similar to his own. The source of said power had disappeared soon after it had gotten close to the gates of the city. Dante only knew of one other half demon in existence, his brother, and this signature didn't feel anything like him. It's aura seemed conflicted, the human side and demonic one battling for supremacy. To Dante this meant one of two things. One, a demonic spirit had possessed a human or two a human had artificially grafted demonic flesh and blood to their own physiology. In the case of the former Dante would attempt to exorcise and kill the demon. In the case of the latter Dante would probably have to kill the person who had bonded themselves with demonic tissue, more out of mercy than anything else. Odds were that the poor soul was slowly being devoured by the demonic presence in their bodies.

_Dante reached out for his brother who took his hand and pulled them both into the depths of the demon realm… _

_Dante and Vergil cut through hordes of demons that surrounded them…_

_Vergil found the room with the mirrors…_

Dante walked through the city. Many people were giving him strange looks. Well, being shirtless and wearing a red leather coat and having silver hair wasn't exactly normal now was in. Looking at the sun in the sky realized that night was soon approaching. He heard guards announcing the curfew so he headed for an inn-like building. He looked back and forth to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one Dante leapt atop the building. Sitting up against the chimney he waited for night to fall so he could move undetected.

_Later That Night…_

Dante felt the presence appear right below him as he heard a window creak open. _I guess tonight is my lucky night. _He watched as a woman, clad in black, leapt out and hopped across the rooftops towards the cathedral. _It's a chick to. _Watching her set off Dante got to his feet and gave chase but made sure that she wouldn't see him. She leaped through the night with stealth and grace. She defiantly wasn't normal. Dante followed her with noticeably less grace and style but he made up for it in speed and was able to keep up with her easily. Upon her reaching the cathedral Dante watched as she slung a grappling hook around one of the stone beams and swung silently over the heads of the guards below. _She's got some moves to. Man did I luck out on this one._

Dante himself was without rope but he did have something that would work. Reaching into the dimensional pocket he pulled out the tripartite nunchaku made of ice, Cerberus. Whirling it around himself he sent out one of the three "chucks" and it embedded itself in the stone of the cathedral. Dante telepathically commanded the chain to retract and it pulled him across the gap between the building he was on and up the side of the cathedral. Upon landing on the side of the cathedral he leapt straight up and came to rest beneath the tallest tower on the cathedral. He settled in and began to eavesdrop. He could pick out two voices, one belonging to the girl he had followed and one that sounded like an older man.

"Youma do not discriminate." Came the woman's voice. "They do not care if God lives inside you, whether you are a man of the cloth or an infidel. We are meat to those creatures." Her voice was flat and devoid of any emotion.

"But…" Came the man's voice.

"As long as your guts are inside you you are fair game to them." The woman's voice continued.

"Look you have to help us, I don't care how much the cost, we will pay it." The man begged.

"I require no money." The women said simply. "Once the job is complete someone from our organization will come by to collect the money and you will give it to them. If I happen to fail in my mission and die in the process you will owe nothing and this youma will continue its slaughter." She paused for a second. "It's possible that the odds may be against me this time around. I have a request for you father as a faithful servant to God."

_So she is addressing a priest." _Dante thought. _She also sounds like she is hunting this youma thing. It must be a demon._

"Request?" The priest asked.

"If I happen to parish while hunting the youma within your cathedral will you promise to take in the boy I brought with me and care for him."

"What?" Came the priest's voice again.

"There is no need for worry." Said the woman in that same emotionless tone. "He's a good boy. His family was killed by a youma and he has no one else to turn to." She paused. "Where ever you could fit him in would be sufficient. Perhaps he could assist the priests or even work in the kitchen?"

"We will take care of the boy. You have my word. And even though a may be a servant of the lord it doesn't excuse my behavior. I should be more concerned with others then myself. Like you, a Claymore, who isn't allowed into our city because she is deemed to be sub-human, appears to be void of selfishness. Your benevolent care for the boy is admirable and is an inspiration to us all." The priest said solemnly.

_A Claymore huh. From the sound of things there appear to be more of them. I wonder how many are girls. _Dante noted.

"Thank you. I am in your debt." Came the woman's voice again, this time it contained gratitude while it was still flat and devoid of emotion.

_She must know that her time is coming. _Dante realized. He watched as the girl who he had dubbed in his head as "the Claymore" leap down from the cathedral and land on the rooftop that she had swung to the cathedral from, seemingly unhurt by the fall. She began to leap off into the distance back towards the inn at which she had been staying. Since Dante knew where she would go he jumped up to the place where the priest was. Landing softly he leaned up against the many stone pillars he spoke softly. "You had better be ready to make good on that promise."

The priest turned around abruptly and recoiled in shock. Dante continued without noticing. "You noticed, right? She knows she's gonna die."

"Who are you?" The priest asked, fear evident in his voice.

"I'm not this "youma" if that is what you were wondering." Dante said. "Tell me, did you notice?"

The priest closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "Yes, I did." The priest confirmed. "Who are you?" He asked with a little more urgency.

"I guess you could say I'm something like them." Dante answered.

"Them?" The priest asked.

"These Claymore's you keep mentioning." Dante said. "I'm like them, but their bond with the demonic is artificial and unstable. She is on the verge of losing herself to her demonic side and she knows it. From what I I've been able to tell from listening to you two talk she is a member of similar artificial half breeds that hunts down these youma."

"You're like them?" The Priest asked. "I don't understand. There hasn't been a male Claymore since the beginning of their order."

_So they're all chicks. Wahoo! _Dante thought happily.

"I'm not one of them." Dante said.

"Well whoever you are, do you intend to help her, can you?" The priest asked. "He walked forwards and grasped Dante's arm. "Please, if you can do anything for her please do. You may not have seen it but her eyes, they contained untold amounts of suffering, please sir you must help her."

Dante looked the priest in the eyes and said, "I'd like to. I just don't know how." Dante then triggered the time rift abilities that he had gained from Grayon the Timesteed and ran and jumped off the tower. Upon hitting the ground he leapt atop the building in front of him and let the power go. To the priest it looked as if Dante had just disappeared. The priest, Father Vincent, sent up a prayer, praying for Clare and praying for the boy that accompanied her.

_The next morning…_

"You don't have to be human to be a good person." Raki finished. "Is something wrong?" He asked Clare.

"If that man had attacked you I wouldn't have stepped in to help, no matter how hard he beat you. If you're looking to me for kindness I advise you not to bother. I assure you in time you'll find yourself disappointed and hurt." Clare said coldly. She swept past Raki and left the room.

Upon entering the hallway she saw Dante leaning up against the wall outside. _What and oddly dressed man. _Clare thought. Closing the door she began to walk down the hallway past him. After she got about five feet past him she heard him speak to her. "You shouldn't lie to the kid." Dante said.

Clare turned around to look at Dante. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you. You're lying to him and yourself." Dante continued his tone harsh.

"What would you know?" Clare asked him, turning around to leave.

"I know quite a lot Miss Claymore." Dante said. Clare turned around quickly. Her eyes found the place he had stood but he was gone, just gone.

_Rooftop…_

_Well, I guess replicating the circumstances is the best I can hope for. Poor girl. _Dante lamented. _The priest was right; she's hurting and wants to keep it inside. _Dante sat contemplating. _It's decided, I'm gonna save her, and then all the others I can! _Dante stood up. _Plus, she has such a nice ass._ The more perverted of his mind added. Dante, being himself, found it hard to disagree.

_With Dante: Later That Night…_

Dante stood on top of Rebellion, his sword up in the ceiling of the Cathedral. He had embedded his sword there a few hours ago and waited for the youma to make its move. Soon enough Clare, being chased by the two guards Galk and Sid. He watched her engage the target and suffer several grievous injuries. When she fell protecting Galk from the youma's blade-like fingers Dante knew it was time to move in. Pulling Rebellion out of the wall he dropped and brought out Cerberus. He landed in front of the two stunned guards and the unconscious Clare. Using its powers of ice he brought up a wall of ice to separate the guards and Clare from the youma.

"Leave now. Take her with you, make sure she gets help." Dante said through the wall. The smaller one with the blond hair, Sid was his name, almost fell over. Galk, the large one, readied his broken sword and in the case of another youma. Dante's voice came through again, "She saved your life, you owe her, now go." The hulking youma began to swing it's arm down and Dante easily stopped it with Rebellion. "I said go!" He turned around and swung his sword at the youma causing it to jump back. The drumming of feet was heard and soon dozens of guards were filing into the room. The youma began to jump away.

"You're not getting away that easily." Dante growled as he leapt up after it. Soon loud gunshots were heard as well as pained screams from the youma.

As soon as the gunshots ended Galk walked over to the downed Clare. Picking her up he began to walk away. "What are you doing Galk?" Sid asked angrily.

Galk turned around. "Look, Claymore or not this woman saved my life. And whatever that thing was that attacked the youma I don't think we can handle it by ourselves." He began to walk again. "You should think about that. If she was really a monster would she have saved us like she did?" He walked out and kept on going.

"Galk wait…!" Sid yelled as he rushed after his partner.

_One Day Later…_

Raki's head lay on the side of the bed next to Clare's unconscious form. Father Vincent sat in a chair up against the wall. He heard a tapping on the window next to him and he glanced over. "Hey, let me in." He said, knocking on the glass.

"You again." Vincent whispered. He got up and hurried over to the window. He slid it open and Dante climbed through." He looked over at Clare.

"How is she?" He asked.

"Wounded, badly." Vincent whispered. "The wounds appear to be healing but it will take some time."

Dante sighed. "Well that's good to hear."

"Do you know anything about a second youma in the cathedral?" Vincent asked.

"Oh there's no more youma here. I made sure of that." Dante said. "I killed that sucker real good."

Vincent recoiled. "Then you were that creature that interfered last night."

"Bingo." Dante confirmed. "I said I was the natural version of them. That thing, it was nothing."

"But why would you do that?" Vincent asked. "Now the guards will be hunting for you."

Dante smiled. "That was the point." He indicated Clare and Raki. "She wants him to be safe but at the same time she can't stand to care for him."

"But why would you kill the youma and take its place as the hunted one?" Vincent asked.

Dante leaned up against the wall. "When an artificial half-demon or half-youma as you would call it succumbs to their demon side they are usually alone and desperate." Dante then triggered. Looking at Vincent with his glowing red eyes he said, "But I was different. I beat my demon side and took control of it. Take a guess what was different."

Vincent, who had would normally have acted in fear only flinched slightly at the sight of Dante's demon form, responded, "You weren't desperate and alone?"

Dante shook his head. "No, I was desperate and alone. The difference was that I had something to fight for." He returned to his normal form. "Father Vincent, I'm gonna need your help for this."

Vincent asked, "What with?"

"I'm gonna try to replicate the circumstances." Dante said. "I'm going to transform tonight and take the kid." He handed Vincent what appeared to be some kind of green orb. "Five minutes after I'm gone press this two her injuries. It should heal her. Then tell her that a monster has taken the boy. Knowing her she'll probably be able to track the aura I'll leave. I'll lure her to the main chapel and fight her there."

"What will that do?" Vincent asked.

"I'm going to wound her, badly." Dante said. "Then I'm going to taunt her with how I'm going to torture the boy and kill him, eat his guts, typical demon stuff. With any luck she'll take control of her demon side completely and trigger."

"Wound her?!" Vincent whispered in a shocked voice.

"It's the only way, she has to be about to die." Dante said. "She will transform, one way or the other. If she transforms into a demon I'll have to kill her. That's why I told you to make ready to keep your promise." Dante headed back towards the window.

"You should get ready." He said. As he jumped out the window he muttered, "It looks like this is gonna be one hell of a party."

Vincent watched Dante go and turned around. Raki still lay by Clare's side sound asleep. Going over to the young boy he tapped him on the shoulder. Raki's eyes flashed open but he refrained from making any noise. Sitting up slowly he looked at Father Vincent.

"What's going on, did something happen?" Raki whispered.

Father Vincent looked at the young boy and realized that he couldn't lie to the child, not he, not a priest. "Did she have any other weapons then those to short blades?" He asked. "I understand that Claymore's are supposed to carry large swords, do you know where hers is?"

Raki cocked his head at Vincent and said, "It's back at the inn, why?"

"I have a feeling she'll be needing it soon." Vincent said. "You should hurry and retrieve it for her."

Raki nodded and ran out of the room as fast as he could and out the building. "Something's about to happen." Raki muttered to himself. "Something is wrong."

_That Night…_

Clare's eyes sprung open. She sat up abruptly. She gave herself a once over, she wasn't injured, all her wounds were healed.

"You're awake, thank God." Came Vincent's voice. Clare looked over to see him on the floor, up against the wall. It looked as if he had been punched across the face. Clare jumped out of the bed and ran over to the Priest.

"What happened?" She asked.

"A man in red." Father Vincent gasped. "A man in red came and took Raki."

"A man in red?" Clare asked.

"_I know quite a lot Miss Claymore." _Dante's voice echoed in her brain.

"Where did he take him?" Clare asked, a touch of franticness entering her voice. "Why would he take him?"

"He was there, the night we talked." Vincent said. "He heard everything. He told me so himself. He said he was going to the main worship area with the boy and if you wanted him back you'd have to come take him. Do you think he was the youma?"

"No." Clare said. "If it was why would it leave me alive and take Raki?" _I have to save him._

Clare rose up to leave. "I'm going, stay here."

"Wait, Raki… he brought your sword." Vincent said, raising an arm to weakly indicate the statue that served as a concealing device for the sword.

Clare crossed over to it and smashed the head of the statue against the wall. The thin skin of porcelain fell away revealing the naked blade of Clare's sword. She grasped it and ran from the room.

_Cathedral, Main Sanctuary…_

Dante, with Rebellion across his back and Ebony & Ivory on their holsters, finished tying Raki's hands behind his back. Capturing him had been a simple affair. He used Nevan, the bizarre guitar scythe that came from the soul of a demonic succubus of the same name, to deliver an electric shock much like a shot from a taser. Dante then summoned up Doppelganger the Deathvoid from the depths of his mind, or heart, or wherever the shadow spirit lived when Dante wasn't using him. The shadow demon appeared besides Dante and cocked its head at him as if to say, "You need something?"

Dante indicated the boy and said, "I'm gonna need you to form a second skin over the boy. I'm probably gonna have to cut him, and by that I mean you, up a bit."

The Doppelganger gave Dante a "Do I have to?" look and Dante shot it a glare so it moved over to where Raki sat unconscious on one of the pews and phased into him.

"Make sure to mimic his movements exactly. When I lop of a limb make sure to scream real loud, even if he doesn't." Dante said. He then took the glass of water that he had sat on the pew next to Raki and splashed it onto his face.

Raki's eyes flashed open as the cold water hit his face. He spluttered for a second. He then realized that his hands were tied behind his back. "What, what am I doing here?" He cried frantically and tried to stand up only for Dante to push him back down onto the pew. "What who are you? Why are you doing this?"

Dante looked at him, trying to put on his best evil face and said in a tone of voice that more resembled his brother's, "Shut up and stay there brat." Dante then leaped up into the rafters.

It was right at that moment that Clare ran into the room. Seeing Raki ran across the room. To Raki's side. Stabbing her sword into the ground she reached for the ropes that bound Raki's wrists.

"Clare, above you!" Raki yelled frantically, Doppelganger mimicking him exactly.

Clare turned around to see Dante standing right behind her. She aimed a punch at his face which Dante simply leaned backwards to avoid. Clare used the momentum of her punch to turn around and aim another punch at Dante with the same arm. Dante grabbed her forearm with almost no effort and then hurled her across the room. Clare hit the wall, sending spider webbing cracks across the stone surface. Clare shakily got to her feet; her sword thudded into the wall beside her head.

"Come on. That can't be it. And here I was hoping to get some fun out of you." Dante mocked. "Come on babe, you can do better.

Clare pulled her sword out of the wall. "Who are you?" She asked, her voice like ice, "Where is the youma I was sent to kill?"

Dante laughed and stamped his foot, from the height of the ceiling fell a huge block of ice, encased in it was the hulking youma. "You mean this thing?" He asked. The ice hit the floor and shattered, freeing the youma. The youma slowly got up and upon seeing Dante it let out a howl of rage.

"You bastard. I'll get you for what you did to me." The youma growled. It began to charge at Dante. It swung one of its large arms at Dante. Dante easily sidestepped it. Dante then kicked out with such force that it cut the youma's arm in half.

"Is that all you have. I mean really, I don't even have to use my sword." Dante taunted.

"I'll kill you!!!" The youma howled. It swung its remaining arm down at Dante. Dante caught its massive fist with his left arm. He then hurled the youma across the room. It went through several rows of pews before finally coming to a stop. Dante jumped into the air and came down in an axe kick that crushed the youma's throat.

"Well that was disappointing." Dante said as he pulled out Ivory and shot the youma through the head.

_He defeated that youma with his bare hands. What is he? _Clare thought frantically. _And that weapon. It seems to be able to fire some kind of projectile._

"Come on. Don't you want to save the kid?" Dante asked as he hefted Rebellion from his back. Pointing it at Clare. "Defeat me and he's yours."

Clare didn't hesitate as she yanked her sword from the wall. She charged across the room and took a two handed swing at Dante. Dante used Rebellion to block her sword. Clare leaped back and tried a lunging stab. Dante twisted to the side, dodging easily.

_It's no good. He's not even trying. _Clare realized. _Well, no avoiding it, I have to use yoki._

Clare's eyes turned yellow and catlike and her face began to distort. _30% Release_

Clare swung with much faster speed at Dante. Dante was now appearing making an actual effort.

"Wow, you can use your demon power." Dante laughed. _From what I can see she's using about a third of it. I need to push her further._

Dante brought out Ebony & Ivory and opened fire. He made sure to aim for nonlethal places but Clare had already seen what a gun could do and managed to dodge out of the way. Dante noticed that her body had begun to distort as well. _50% Release_

Dante began to swap between Ebony & Ivory and Rebellion. Clare twisted and struck. Desperately trying to land a hit. Dante evaded or blocked every strike she used.

_I need more power! _Clare thought. Dante brought his sword around and smashed her in the midsection with the flat of the blade, knocking the wind out of her and throwing her across the room.

Clare struggled to get up as Dante calmly walked over to Raki, who was trembling in fear. "Maybe you need a little motivation." Dante said cruelly as he hefted Rebellion and began to stab Raki's left shoulder. Doppelganger used his illusionary powers to make it appear as though Dante's sword was piercing his shoulder when in reality it was going into the space between Raki's arm and body. Doppelganger mimicked Raki's voice and screamed in "pain."

"Maybe I should take an ear next?" Dante asked.

Clare didn't answer as she blurred into existence behind Dante. She swung her sword violently at Dante's head. Dante ducked and dodged backwards but Clare was on him in an instant, hammering away at his guard with intense brutality.

_80% Release: Theoretical point of no return._

Clare screamed as her body began to contort and began to change.

"No, Clare!!!" Raki cried helplessly as he watched the Claymore's aura expand.

Clare let out a final scream as her aura exploded. Dante leaped backwards and landed by Raki. Kicking the pew Raki was on Dante watched in satisfaction as it slid into one of the walls and aligned up against the wall. "Sit and watch kid, things just got interesting." Dante laughed.

The aura dispersed revealing a much changed Clare. Her legs had become hock jointed like a horses with Blades near the joints. Her torso had become almost unrecognizable due to the muscle that had appeared. Her arms had turned into giant claws with blades almost as long as four feet. Surprisingly her head had stayed the same. Still hideous and distorted from the yoki but still recognizable as human.

_99% Release_

Clare charged with blindingly speed at Dante, having abandoned her sword due to her inability to hold it with her claws. Dante sidestepped at the last moment and Clare hit the wall. Clare pushed herself off the ground and charged again, swinging wildly. Dante dodged again and she hit yet another wall. This process repeated itself several times. _She's gotten faster. Her attacks aren't as good anymore though. She's still fighting against the demon inside her instead of transforming completely. Her body is out of her control but her mind is still hers. Now, I just have to snap her out of it._

"Well, it looks like you went demon on me." Dante mocked. "I thought that it would at least make you stronger but I was having a harder time with you before this." Clare charged him again and he jumped strait up and when she passed mere inches underneath him he kicked her in the back of the head. Clare fell to the ground and skidded to a stop.

Dante walked over to Raki who was trembling in fear. Dante raised Rebellion and said, "Maybe you need some motivation. This time I take an arm."

Dante swung Rebellion down and cleaved the pew in half, taking a large chunk of the wall out behind it as well. Once again Doppelganger did his job and made it appear as Raki's left arm had been severed. Raki let out a loud yelp, more out of fear then pain.

Clare, upon hearing Raki's pain tried to push herself up again. "_**Raki…**_" Came Clare's grossly distorted voice.

_Inside Clare's Mind…_

Clare hung in her mind, crucified and naked across a twisted image of her own Claymore sigil. The only thing keeping her from loosing herself completely was the desire to save Raki.

"Are you motivated yet?" Came Dante's taunt.

Clare watched, a prisoner in her own body, as she rose to try to attack again. She raised her claws and was about to charge when Raki's voice interrupted her. Doppelganger altered its pitch to appear week and strained. "Clare, stop… please stop."

Clare's head turned slowly and painfully to see Raki painfully sprawled across the ground. Blood pouring from the stump of his severed arm and the stab wound in his left shoulder.

"Clare, you don't have to fight anymore. Not for my sake." Tears were pouring down his face. "You took me in when no one else would. You saved me." He choked back a sob. "You don't have to do anymore for me. The time I spent with you was the best in my life." He began to drag himself across the floor using his chin. "I don't want you to die because of me."

Clare's eyes widened and her eyes flickered back to silver for a second, a change that Dante noticed. _The kids almost done it. Now I just have to finish it. _Dante walked forwards towards Clare. "Well isn't that touching?" Dante said. "Well, maybe kid." He pulled out Ebony and pointed it at Raki's head. "Maybe I'll have to make you live up to that promise."

"No! No! No?" Clare growled as she fought against the bonds that held her. _I have to save him. I need more power!!!_

_Real World…_

Dante felt the release of power. "Well, she did it." He whispered happily as Clare blurred into existence in front of him. What he saw before him was something he didn't expect. His demonic side cried out with primal need. One thought went through Dante's head as he was impaled through the chest with the devil arm that Clare's triggering had manifested. _She's Beautiful…_

Clare bore Dante to the floor and left him impaled there with the sword stuck about a foot into the stone beneath him.

Clare stood above him. Raki gasped at the form she had taken. Then, arcane symbols flashed in the air around her and the devil form dispersed. Clare fell, naked, to the floor unconscious.

"Clare. You did it." Raki said happily.

"Yes, she defiantly did." Came Dante's voice. Raki gasped in horror as Dante floated up the length of the sword, blood spurting everywhere, and off it.

"How. Nothing could survive that." Raki whispered. _What kind of youma is he?_

Dante crossed the distance between them and said, "Alright, you've done your job." Raki saw what appeared to be black smoke cross his field of vision and saw the form of the doppelganger appear before it. Dante made a high low five motion and the doppelganger mimicked it and faded back into smoke which adhered to Dante and disappeared.

"What was that thing?" Raki asked.

"A friend of mine." Dante said as he slashed the bonds off Raki's hands with Rebellion. "Can you stand?"

Without waiting for Raki's response he went over to Clare's prone form. Taking off his coat he wrapped her in it. Dante felt his face heat up. _What the hell. _Dante mentally slapped himself. _Come on. You've been around a lot of naked women. Get yourself together. _He kicked Clare's sword, the devil arm, out of the stone. As it tumbled through the air he saw that it resembled Rebellion in many ways. The main differences were that its hilt had a closed-mouth skull that sat atop the blade instead of the blade atop it. Its grip also had vine-like filigree etched into it. The cross guard was also out at a strait rather than at an angle like Rebellions. The blade itself was tapered slightly until it reached the end where it dipped slightly into two indentations before carrying on until it the ends turned into a triangular tip. Dante turned his back so the blade entered the portal to his storage dimension.

"Where are you taking her? Why are you doing this?" Raki asked frantically.

"Go find Father Vincent and meet me at the top of the highest tower." Dante said. "Tell him that Dante said that he doesn't have to keep his promise after all." Dante then summoned Nevan and triggered. He then used the forms wings and flew straight up. Upon reaching the height of one of the stained glass windows he flew strait at it and just as he was about to hit it he and Clare transformed into bolt of lightning that made a small hole in the window. Once outside Dante and Clare reformed and Dante shot up into the sky and landed upon the same tower that he had first met Vincent and made his decision to help Clare. Dante settled down and untriggered.

Dante laid Clare against the side of the wall and then pulled her new sword out of his storage dimension. _I wonder if calling it hammerspace would be copyright infringement. Oh what the Hell, they probably don't have lawyers here anyway. _Dante impaled her sword into the stone and leaned Clare up against it. Dante then impaled Rebellion into the stone across from her and sat down and leaned up against it.

"That was one hell of a party." Dante muttered.

* * *

**And done...**

**For those of you who are wondering, how does Dante moves. He runs like Alex Mercer but without the ground exploding. **

**_Prototype Kicks Ass!!!_**

**That it does. That it does. Also, Clare's devil arm. It is the DMC2 form of Rebellion. As for the Trigger summon thing. Rebellion awakened when Dante triggered for the first time. I imagined that every demon and half demon has a devil arm that is a manifestation of their spirit. I need a name for Clare's. Also, Clare's transformation is a partial devil trigger. It made it's appearence in the DMC3 manga. Her full transformation will be revealed later.**

**_What about Raki, will he do anything?_**

**I actually plan on making him useful before the timeskip. He will use the dental floss of death and become a badass. Not on the level Dante or Clare but still able to help. **

**_What's Vergil up to?_**

**I thought long and hard about that. I will explain his whereabouts and how Dante got to where he is in flashbacks. I'll say this. Vergil is off doing Vergilish things with a certian organization that deals with the supernatural and satanic threats. It also has more violence and blood then you can shake a hepatitis B test at. I'll make a mention of the first person to guess it.**

_**Oh, I know. It's **the following text is missing**.**_

**You don't count.**

**_Poopy..._**

**Review Please?**


	2. Gilver

**SHB is sick today. He looked to long at the cover of a Twilight novel and got bloodsuckingpixiea. He is expected to make a full recovery thanks to me and my copies of the Hellsing Ultimate OVA's.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

A man in blue with silver hair walked through a small town that he had happened upon. A blue coat that swept down to his ankles with a snake pattern on the right side over a chest that was covered in armor like vest adorned his body. Blue pants and knee length boots completed the outfit. Rain dripped off his exposed head causing his hair to hang limply about his face. _Four… five… six… seven._ He thought. _Seven demons. They seem to have noticed me. _The man's left hand tightened around the katana that he held at his waist, taking comfort that he had the dimension-cutting blade with him. If these demons decided to attack then they would be killed. They would be cut to ribbons. The dark slayer would not even be touched by their unworthy hands. _They are pitiful, hiding amongst the humans. Not even worth my time._

The man continued to watch as the demonic energy signatures surrounded him in the crowd of people. _They are coming. _The man's right hand tensed in preparation to draw his sword. It relaxed suddenly. _I might as well use this as an opportunity to test out my new combat style._

"Hey, you new around here?" Said one of the disguised yoma, extending his hand in a fake gesture of friendship.

"I have no time for you." The man said, his right hand flicked once and a glowing sword manifested itself in midair and flew strait into the yoma's face. The youma fell back, its face impaled upon the sword.

People screamed, pandemonium ensued, and things began to spiral out of control. In the center of the tempest of fear the man was an island of calm. The youma hit the ground and reverted back to its original form. _That's one._

The man leapt into the air and inverted himself. Dozens of the glowing swords manifested themselves in a ball around him and shot outwards. Each of the swords homing in on their target. Each target was impaled, multiple times across their bodies. _Two, three, four, five, six… _The man ticked off in his hand.

The man landed and swept his hands out to the sides causing his coat to flair out behind him. Two of the blades manifested themselves in his hands and he held them with their points pointed down. The villagers looked on in absolute terror as the remains of the youma reverted back to their original forms. The man continued on undeterred, walking calmly with his arms still held out strait to the sides, his head down. He then threw the right blade down into the ground and flipped his hair back with his free hand, causing it to take on a spiked appearance, the water flicking away. He continued his stalk down the street. "Let's see." He said calmly, causing those near him to take several steps back. "I sensed several demonic energy signatures when I entered this town. Seven to be exact." He stopped walking. "How many have I killed?"

All the people in the crowd looked around desperately, counting the dead youma off out loud or in their heads. "It seems that I've missed one." He tossed the final blade with a flick of his finger at a woman who was standing with her arms on the shoulders of a young girl, around twelve from the look of her. The blade cut the woman across the cheek and embedded itself in the building behind her. "You can't fool me." He said simply. The small girl turned her head slowly to look at the woman whose face distorted into the grey skin and yellow eyes of a yoma.

"Mommy…?" The little girl whispered helplessly. The yoma moved its right arm into position at the girl's throat.

"Don't take another step; this girl is the only survivor." The yoma informed harshly. "My brethren and I feasted upon her family and took their places. She is the last. Don't you want to save her?" It maneuvered backwards, pulling the girl with it. "Be reasonable, I'm not asking for much. Just look the other way and I'll leave and the girl will be free."

The man looked at her and sighed. "You and your brethren seeked to attack me. I will not leave you alive. That pathetic human means nothing to me."

The yoma's eyes narrowed. "You speak as if you weren't human."

The man smiled evilly and let his demonic side surface, if only for a brief moment. The people caught a glimpse of blue scales, sharp teeth and yellow eyes. Then, as quick as it came the demonic visage disappeared.

The yoma's eyes widened in realization. "Devil…" It hissed. "Why, why help these pathetic humans?" It growled angrily.

The man ignored it and looked at the girl. "Are you afraid to die girl?"

The girl looked at him, "What…?" She whimpered.

"I'll put it this way." The man said. "If I let this demon go you will be free and alive but this creature will have gone free and will be able to kill more people. Or, you could die and here and save others, and punish it for what it undoubtedly did to your family."

"You bastard." The youma growled.

"Answer me!" The man said loudly.

The girls eyes closed, her short brown hair covered her eyes for a second. She opened them again. "I'm not afraid to die." She whispered.

As soon as she finished the sentence the man gestured and a summoned blade impaled her through the chest and into the yoma behind her. The fell apart, the girl forwards and the youma back. The man teleported between them and with a devastatingly fast series of slashes from his katana turned the yoma's body into dust. Then, with a smooth motion, sheathed his katana and caught the girl as she fell. Laying her on her back he looked at her. Her eyes where glazing over, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I had to pierce through your chest to kill that demon. Now your bleeding out and there isn't any time left." He said. "I can heal you but I don't know what it will do to you. Likewise many people here will probably cast you out. What do you say, do you want to live?"

The girl raised an arm feebly. "You said you didn't care. Why are you…?" She whispered pathetically, unable to finish.

The man himself didn't know. Normally he would have cut through the girl without a second thought but here he was offering to heal her. No, he knew the reason. He caught her hand as it fell.

"My mother was also killed by demons." The man whose name was Vergil, the firstborn son of Sparda answered. "What is your name little one?"

"Clarice." The girl answered before her eyes slipped closed.

"Well, Clarice, it seems that you want to live." Vergil whispered as he began to push his own demonic energy into the girl, healing her injuries. _And it is those who refuse to give up with all their heart that begin to transcend their humanity._

Twenty minutes later Vergil straitened and walked away. He walked on and out of the town. Upon leaving the town he saw a woman walking towards the town on the road, dressed in white clothing and armor with a huge sword across her back.

Vergil sensed her demonic energy and came to a similar conclusion that Dante had. Upon passing her he saw her tense.

"If you fight me you will die." Vergil said simply. He kept walking. The woman stood there, not moving. She had sensed the depth of Vergil's power and was terrified. Never before had she felt such power. She felt the Vergil's presence move away and she finally continued onto the town. _Who was that man? _The woman asked herself. _Galatea, what have you gotten yourself into this time?_

Galatea walked into the town. Soon a man approached her. "Ms. Claymore! Ms. Claymore!" He yelled frantically, waving his arms a little comically.

"What's going on?" Galatea asked. "I was called here to kill several yoma yet I sense none here."

"You just missed it!" The man said, "A man in blue came. He killed them all!"

_A man in blue! _Galatea's thoughts raced.

"If you fight me you will die." Vergil's voice repeated from her head.

"Take me to where this took place." Galatea ordered. The man was about to say something but she cut him off. "I saw who did this on my way here. I need to see what he is capable of."

The man gave no further protest and led Galatea to the sight of the battle. Upon arriving Galatea beheld the damage caused, or rather the lack of it. There was virtually no blood, the yoma's wounds having been cauterized by the summoned swords. Galatea could sense the residual yoki power from the wounds.

"How did he kill them?" Galatea asked. "These wounds don't look like they came from that sword the man carried with him.

The man who had led her there said, "He called these blades out of thin air. They flew like arrows into the yoma and struck six of them down."

"There were more?" Galatea asked.

"Yes, one more. It had taken the form of that girl's mother." He indicated Clarice's unconscious body that still lay on the ground. "He impaled both of them with one of the blades and then turned the yoma to dust."

"Turned it to dust. How?" Galatea asked.

"That sword, he moved it so fast." The man murmured and shuddered. "It was like his arm disappeared for a moment. The yoma called him a devil."

_A devil? _"What do you mean a devil?" Galatea asked.

"The man, he transformed into this blue thing. I didn't see much of it because it was only for a moment." The guide responded.

_Could he have been an awakened being? No, he couldn't have been. Why would he bother saving humans? Also, his Yoki aura, it was at peace. It flowed through him peacefully. Our aura's are conflicted, are yoma side always trying to take over. It was like it was a part of him._

Galatea directed her yoki sensing abilities towards Clarice, hoping to find more of the demonic energy that the man had left in his wake. To her surprise she felt a large concentration of it in the girl, specifically in her right arm. She could also tell that the girl was still alive, despite the fatal looking wound Galatea had thought that the burn in her shirt led to.

"You said that the man impaled her. How is she still alive?" Galatea asked.

"The man. He did something to her. He asked if she was afraid to die. After he impaled her and killed the yoma he did something to her. He may have turned her into one of them. Anyway I'm not getting near her." The man said, fear evident in his voice.

"So, all the yoma are dead then?" Galatea inquired.

"We think so." The man said. "That man picked them out of a crowd of easily a hundred people."

"Then I guess I have not further business here." Galatea walked over to an unconscious Clarice and picked her up. "Do you have any objections to me taking this girl with me?"

"No, the sooner that thing leaves the better." The man said.

Galatea nodded and began her journey to the outskirts of the town. In her head she was disgusted by the prejudice that was show against the girl in her arms. _Because that man saved her she is deemed sub-human and a monster. I guess yoma aren't the only evil creatures in this world._

Galatea left the town and continued on into the wilderness. The organization would take the girl up and make her one of them. It was better fate then whatever awaited her back at that town. After traveling for a while Galatea was confident that she would meet up with Ermita, her handler and hand off the child to him.

_Later that night…_

Clarice opened her eyes and sat bolt upright. Her vision was blurry from sleep and she was unable to see well. She rubbed her eyes to clear them of the gunk that had formed there. She saw that she was sitting on the ground near a campfire. She looked down and saw the burn in her shirt right about the heart. "So, it wasn't a dream." She whispered sadly. Her arm throbbed. She looked down and saw a dark red armor covering a glowing blue hand. She almost screamed when the arm disappeared, her regular right arm reappearing. "Wha…" She gasped.

Clarice stood and moved her arm, making sure it was still hers. She looked across the campfire to see two spaulders and a folded piece of cloth. _Someone brought me here. _She walked off into the woods, her left arm clutching the elbow of the right. "Hello…" She called softly. When no one answered she continued on into the woods. After traveling about a hundred feet and seeing no signs of anyone she turned around, only to see that the light of the campfire was no longer visible.

"Hello…" Clarice called again. No one answered.

Clarice's arm right arm tingled. She looked down at it and back to the woods. She then realized that she could feel some kind of energy coming from different directions. One had a distinctively calm and kind feeling to it while another felt devious and full of treachery. The two were together about five hundred feet to the right of Clarice. She felt three presences off to her left. These ones seemed… hungry. Clarice felt a pair of arms encircle her and a hand clamp over her mouth.

"Well, a little girl out here alone." Came a voice that couldn't belong to a human. Clarice realized that she had been captured by yet another yoma. Her sensing still active she felt that the calm and kind presence had broken off from the treacherous one and was moving rapidly towards her.

"Oops, looks like the Claymore is coming." Came the voice of another yoma.

"We can take the bitch." Said the third.

Soon enough Galatea came leaping through the trees. _Damn it, I was careless. I should have been able to sense these three before they even got within a mile of us._

"Release the girl if you know what's good for you." Galatea threatened.

"Or you'll what?" The yoma holding Clarice mocked. "If you take another step I'll tear this girls head off."

Clarice whimpered in fear. Not this again. This couldn't be happening.

_What am I going to do? _Galatea's mind ran a mile a minute trying to find away to save Clarice. She doubted that she could move the yoma's arm as it seemed to be quite intent upon holding on to its little meat shield.

Clarice felt warm tears flowing down her face. How could this be happening to her? More yoma, using her. Using her so they could escape and kill more. No… no. She wouldn't allow it. They would not leave her alive. Clarice felt a bloodlust sweep over her and she welcomed it. She felt power surge into her right arm and the bloodlust overcame her. Her mind drifted into the sweet realm of unconsciousness.

Galatea on the other hand was privy to what happened. One second Clarice was being held captive and the next the yoma's upper torso was flying up into the air, blood and innards raining down upon the ground. Galatea watched in horror and a kind of morbid fascination as Clarice dashed at speeds equal to that of a higher ranked Claymore at the other two youma. Her arm covered with the red armor and glowing blue once more and her eyes glowing red Clarice grabbed the second yoma's head and tore it clean from its perch on the yoma's broad shoulders. The third yoma turned to run but felt a large force grasp it around its entire body. A large ghostly replica of Clarice's right hand held the yoma in place. A bloodlust filled grin lay plastered across the girls face as she closed her fist and Galatea felt bile rise in her throat as the yoma's head popped like an overripe berry. Then, as quickly as it had happened the arm returned to normal and Clarice fell to the ground.

Silence reined for the next minute."Little one, what are you?" Galatea breathed. She hesitantly approached the unconscious girl and picked her up. Traveling back to where she was earlier she called, "Ermita! Here is the girl." Her black bandaged handler got up from the log on which he had sat and took the girl from Galatea.

"You dealt with the yoma?" He asked.

"They are no more." Galatea said. She didn't think it was a good idea to tell the man about Clarice.

"Take the girl and go. I have something I need to do." Galatea said.

Ermita obliged her and took Clarice. "If I may be so bold, what do you need to accomplish?" He asked.

"Something got to the yoma in the village before me. I need to find out what." Galatea said.

"Well good luck." Ermita offered. "I will see to it that this girl joins are ranks." He turned and left, leaving Galatea alone in the forest. She turned and walked back to the campsite. She gathered her armor and began to work her way back to the town. She hadn't gotten five feet when she felt cold steel against her neck.

"Well, you are quite the compassionate one." Came the cold, hard voice of Vergil.

_How could he sneak up on me?_ Galatea's thoughts raced frantically. _His power is so vast but he can repress it at will. How is that even possible?_

"I take it from your surprise that you weren't expecting me to follow you. That and that you were unable to sense me." Vergil said calmly. "Your sensory skills may be high but if one knows how to repress their demonic energy it might as well be useless."

He moved his sword away from her throat. "But I sense that there is more to you then sensory capabilities." Galatea turned to face him. Before she could open her mouth he continued. "I take from your conversation with that man that you are a member of a group of artificial half demons that slay demons for money?"

Galatea nodded.

"How many of you are there?" Vergil asked.

"It depends." Galatea responded.

"Let me rephrase that. How powerful are you compared to the others?" Vergil said.

"I am number three in the organization." Galatea answered.

Vergil sheathed Yamato. "Well that means one of two things. One, your organization is pathetic and weak or you have some other abilities." Vergil summoned a sword. "Show me." With a flick of his thoughts he launched the sword at her head.

Galatea felt the buildup of yoki and when the sword launched itself at her she found that she could direct it away quite easily. The sword flew past her, millimeters from her face. Vergil frowned and repeated the move, but with two swords this time. The both flew past her.

"Interesting." Vergil remarked. "You seem to be able to influence the demonic energy of others."

_Shit! He figured it out after just two moves. _Galatea cursed at herself.

"Considering that my summoned blades consist purely of my demonic energy you can influence them to miss you." Vergil said. He drew Yamato and teleported behind Galatea so they were back to back. "Can you do the same thing with physical attacks?" He swung lazily at Galatea's neck and he felt his arm jump, just enough so that he missed. Galatea leaped, turned and drew her sword ten feet away from Vergil. Vergil just lifted his arm before his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Hm, interesting. But what happens if I put my full focus into it?" Vergil asked, his voice still calm. He ran forewords and swung an over handed slice at Galatea's head. He felt the same force on his arm, but this time his focus allowed him to power through it. Galatea lifted her sword to block and stopped Yamato about an inch from her head. Vergil applied more force causing Galatea to have to use both hands. "So if the enemy puts all their focus into an attack they can negate the effects." He continued to up the pressure and forced Galatea down to one knee. "Well, that does have one advantage. By forcing the opponent to put all their focus into an attack it leaves them defenseless should they be attacked in the process of their own."

_With only one arm. What on Earth is he?_

"I take it by the look in your eyes you are confused?" Vergil observed. Galatea's eyes widened in shock and her defense wavered for a second. Vergil retracted Yamato and brought its sheath around and slammed it into Galatea's stomach. The force of the blow lifted Galatea off her feet. She landed and fell to her knees, gasping for breath. "How can I have analyzed your defense. Simple, I am just on another level of skill." He knelt down and whispered in her ear. "I have need of your abilities. You will help me find the man I seek."

"And in return?" Galatea breathed, fighting to get her breath back.

Vergil's voice turned cold as he whispered harshly into her ear. "Do not expect anything from me. I could kill you in a heartbeat."

"If you do kill me you will be on your own." Galatea returned. "I am the only one of my kind with this ability."

Vergil pulled back and looked into her eyes. "You speak the truth then." He sheathed Yamato and turned away. "Do not seek to try my patience woman." He then added in a quieter voice. "What do you want in return?"

Galatea stood up and asked, "For starters could you tell me your name and what you are?"

"My name is Vergil." He said finally. "As to what I am I'm really not sure. That is one of the questions I wish to answer for myself. For now let's leave it at I am a natural version of what you became when you took demon flesh inside your body."

"That doesn't seem possible." Galatea said. "Yoma don't bother raping their victims. They just eat them."

Vergil started walking. "I take it these yoma are the pathetic excuses for demons that inhabit this world." He stopped and raised his arms to shoulder height. "My father, Sparda, wasn't even close to those pieces of trash."

"Well these 'pathetic excuses for demons' are weak." Galatea confirmed. "I take it you have yet to encounter an awakened being?"

Vergil turned to face her. "I would assume that these 'awakened beings' are the result of one of your kind losing their mind and succumbing to their demon side?"

"Correct. Though I doubt anything short of an abyssal one would be a problem for you." Galatea complemented.

"Tell me more of these abyssal ones." Vergil commanded, an evil smile alighting upon his face.

_Two weeks later, the same time Dante entered Rabona…_

Isley and Priscilla walked through the frozen wastes of the north, side by side. Isley, having amassed the army he wished to use against the Claymores found himself with a conundrum. He really didn't care about fighting the Claymores. He would destroy Riful and Luciela if they moved against him but all he really wanted to do was be with Priscilla. He didn't know why but the tool he had gained all those years ago had begun to grow on him. Leftover sentiments he had had back when he was a human undoubtedly. He didn't mind though, it felt good to regain a piece of what he once was. He left his army under the command of Rigardo and began to journey south with Priscilla, intending to keep his promise of taking her home. He knew full well that the girl's parents were dead. At lease he may be able to calm the girl's tormented soul a little. Soon enough they came upon a town. Pieta was its name.

After entering the town he located a suitable inn to stay at. Being an awakened being Isley didn't really have a problem with the cold. Priscilla really didn't either but Isley wanted to condition the mentally unstable awakened being to being in more heavily populated areas. Upon entering he purchased a room and took Priscilla to it.

"Try to go to sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us." Isley whispered to her.

The girl nodded and got into one of the two beds in the room. Isley sat on the opposite and looked at Priscilla. She soon left the realm of consciousness and drifted into sleep. Isley smiled and left the room. Heading downstairs to the bar area of the inn he sat at the bar and ordered an ale. It turned out that awakened beings can live off anything but in order to regain lost strength they had to consume meat. Any creature would do it just happened to be that the yoma part of them seemed to enjoy human more than anything else. Aside from the occasional slave trader that Isley happened across he didn't consume human innards. He saw no shame in it though as it was simply what he had to do to survive.

Isley sat there, deep in thought. What could he do when Priscilla found out that her parents were dead? What would she do? Most likely awaken and destroy everything within a five mile radius of her location.

Isley mulled over these predictions when he felt a gust of cold air sweep into the room. Someone had entered the building.

"I'm looking for a man named Isley." Came a voice from the entrance.

Isley resisted the temptation to turn around, knowing that he'd be exposed if he did. Normally he wouldn't have been worried but something about this made his skin crawl.

"I know you're here, abyssal one." The voice continued and Isley heard footsteps approaching. "You may be able to suppress your power by returning to human form but it isn't enough."

The footsteps got closer. "You don't have to hide. I'm not here to kill you."

Sounds of chair legs scraping across the floor sounded and a threatening voice growled, "Beat it pretty boy." Then there was a _shink_ and the slapping of flesh hitting the stone floor. Then the screaming started.

"He killed Angus. Get him!" Cried another voice and there were three more _shink_'s and more bodies joined the first on the floor. People ran and dove out windows or simply ran out the front door. Soon Isley and the owner of the voice were the only ones left in the room.

"Well…?" The voice asked.

Isley took a long draw of his drink and slid off his chair to face the voice. Vergil, for of course it was he, looked Isley over. "I see why they refer to you as the 'White Silver King'." He walked forwards, away from the corpses of the four men he had killed. Isley looked at the bodies and discovered that they had been diced to pieces. Isley thought that odd as he had only heard the sounds of a blade hitting flesh once for each.

"You require something of me?" Isley asked Vergil.

Vergil smirked and replied, "You are a powerful demon and could pose a threat to my ambitions. I seek to either gain an ally or destroy an enemy."

Isley smirked back, "Destroy me? I believe you would find that very difficult."

Vergil's smirk remained, "I probably would have to fight seriously. You are powerful, that much I can tell."

Isley's smirk turned into a friendly smile. "Well then let's avoid conflict."

Vergil's face returned to its usual calm demeanor. "I seek warriors to assist me in my quest. There is someone I wish to defeat. He has a habit attracting unwanted attention and I need to make sure our battle goes uninterrupted." His voice turned cold. "Understand that this is not a partnership. I simply seek tools to help me achieve my ends. Perform well and you will be rewarded. Disobey and I will destroy you."

Isley's face didn't change but he knew that this man wasn't bluffing. He really did have the power to fight on Isley's level. "Well then let's avoid that."

Vergil turned and headed for the door. "Good. Gather whatever belongings you have. We leave immediately."

"Wait."

Vergil turned back. "What?"

"I have a traveling companion that I was journeying with to the south. I cannot leave her." Isley explained.

"Awakened being?" Vergil asked.

"Yes." Isley confirmed.

"Powerful?" Vergil inquired.

"Yes, but mentally unstable." Isley warned. "Some unseen trauma has reduced her to a mentally scarred child. I'm afraid it's developed into a kind of schizophrenia."

Vergil gazed at the ceiling, right about the place where Isley's room was. "I assume that is the other presence I sense. It seems to be growing unstable."

Isley directed his senses at Priscilla's aura and cursed.

Vergil walked over to the stairs and began to calmly ascend them. "Well, let's see how powerful she is."

Isley shook his head. "I have no desire to be near her in that state. She will destroy everything."

Vergil sighed and growled, "Do what you want." And went up the stairs.

Isley turned and left the building. Soon he was running. He reached the outskirts of the town quickly and soon ascended the cliff face that bordered one of the town's boundaries. He leapt atop it and settled down to watch the battle that was about to commence.

_Back at the inn…_

Vergil reached to top of the stairs and began to walk down the hallway. Soon enough he reached the door that led to Pricilla's room. He reached for the knob to turn the door and opened the door to see Priscilla's still human form thrashing on the bed, lathered in sweat, in the grips of some horrible nightmare.

"So you are the one." Vergil whispered. He drew Yamato and dismissed its sheath, deciding to take things as seriously as possible. He reversed his grip on the blade and held it in a reverse Seigen no Kamae stance.

Soon enough Priscilla's body rippled as her awakened form came into the light. Two meters tall with purple skin, wings and a single horn atop its head, Priscilla's awakened form was a wonder and terror to behold. She sat up slowly and turned towards Vergil.

"Oh, hello. I don't believe I've seen you before." Priscilla said in a creepy wavering voice.

Vergil raised an eyebrow. Extending his senses Vergil felt the vastness of Priscilla's power. "Awakened being…" Vergil whispered. This girl's power would put her in the upper echelons of demons in the demonic realm.

Upon hearing Vergil, Priscilla, began to look around frantically. "Awakened being. Where?" She cried, in obvious distress. Extending her own senses she felt Vergil gathering his power. "Yoma!" She screamed and leapt of the bed. Vergil released the power he had been gathering in Yamato and sent out a mighty arc of energy with a swing of the blade. Priscilla reached out and crossed her arms in front of her. The arc impacted against her forearms and her momentum was abruptly canceled out and she was pushed through the wall and out of the building. Vergil leapt after her and was abruptly impaled upon the awakened beings fingers which had hyper extended past their natural length.

Priscilla smiled fiercely from her position on the ground.

"You missed." Vergil whispered in her ear. Priscilla barely had the time to turn before Yamato came down on her, severing her right arm. Priscilla leapt away and her arm regenerated abruptly. Vergil stood before her. He had shed his coat at the last second and teleported away from Priscilla's dagger-like fingers. He now stood minus the coat with his upper body clad in only the armored vest. Vergil quickly summoned Yamato's sheath and attached it to his back with a small amount of demon magic.

Priscilla growled angrily and sent out another barrage of dagger-like fingers. "God damn yoma! I'll kill you for what you did to my mommy, my daddy, my big brother!" She screamed.

_Just like me… _Vergil realized as he dodged out of the way. Priscilla's anger grew as she sent forth more barrages that Vergil dodged. Vergil found it steadily harder to avoid Priscilla's fingers so he teleported behind her and prepared to sever her arms. Before he could line up the strike Priscilla turned with frightening speed and backhanded Vergil violently across the face. Vergil flew backwards and hit the ground. Rolling to absorb the impact, Vergil regained his balance and shifted into partial devil-trigger, his sclera turning black, his canines sharpening, veins growing dark and the back of his vest extending down and splitting to form wings. Flying upwards to about twenty feet into the air Vergil sheathed Yamato across his back and summoned about five dozen swords. He raised his arms and threw them forwards at Priscilla. The swords all flew at her.

Priscilla saw the swords coming and leapt up, spreading her wings. "I'll kill you!!!" She screamed as she flew at Vergil. Vergil redirected the swords with a sweeping motion of his arm. Priscilla screamed and let out a wave of energy that knocked all the swords off course. Priscilla stopped screaming and flew in a beeline straight for Vergil.

Vergil drew Yamato again and flew to meet her. The collided in the air with the clash of steel against demonic flesh. They stayed clinched in the air for a second before disappearing and reappearing across the sky in another clash. Flying through the skies and streets of the town Vergil and Priscilla clashed mightily, each impact shattering the glass windows of building and sending snow up in buffets and swirls. People who had taken refuge inside their houses tossed around violently by the shockwaves.

Vergil quickly grew annoyed at his opponent's refusal to give in. He teleported to around a hundred feet above the village and threw his arms in the air. Vergil summoned around three hundred blades that he all sent at Priscilla at once. The awakened being crossed her arms in front of her in an attempt to ward off the blades. This proved fruitless as the sheer number of them cut through her defenses and perforated her body. Others missed her and impacted into the ground around her sending up clouds of snow that floated in the air obscuring her from view.

Vergil floated down to the ground. "You are strong, awakened being, that much is certain. It still isn't enough however. Come, show me more power." He called.

The cloud of snow around Priscilla's position was suddenly perforated by thousands of small, green, needlelike projectiles, all flying at Vergil at frightening speeds. They engulfed him.

Priscilla rose to her feet. Her injuries where dire and she had put all her energy into that last attack. At least she had killed the yoma though. The snow that had been kicked up by her attack obscured her opponent from her so she moved forewords to confirm the kill.

She reached the point where Vergil's body should have been when she found nothing but a pile of needles that had been… deflected.

"Not since Dante have I been forced to resort to this." Came Vergil's voice, only electronic and menacing, not that Vergil's voice wasn't menacing to begin with. Priscilla turned her head to behold Vergil in all the dark glory of his devil form. Black face, blue armor, silver crest and sharp teeth showed the world the devil that the man carried within himself. Yamato slid into its sheath on Vergil's back. Once it slid home dozens of slashes hit Priscilla from all angles. Priscilla screamed in anguish and pain as she was cut by the cross dimensional slashes that Vergil had unleashed. Soon the slashes in the air disappeared and Priscilla fell to her hands and knees, defeated soundly.

"In the end you weren't strong enough." Vergil said, meaning the battle that had just been fought. Priscilla, however, interpreted it as referring to the death of her parents and brother. She let out another scream of anguish and pain. Vergil jumped back as another massive power surge erupted from the girl.

The form of an awakened being fell away, revealing the Priscilla back in her human form. Her power shrank back to a small percentage of what it had been and her aura dissolved onto both her arms. Soon enough the energy formed into twin scythe blades that attached to armored gauntlets on her arms.

"I won't forgive you." She cried again, this time her voice a child's once more. She pushed herself to her feet charged Vergil again. Vergil sidestepped a clumsy swing of Priscilla's right arm. Priscilla overbalanced and fell to the ground and lost consciousness, leaving Vergil alone in a battle scarred street.

"It seems that the devil inside you has truly become yours little one." Vergil remarked as he reverted back to his human form. He scooped her up and walked out of the town.

* * *

**I'd like to take this moment to thank VulpineSnow for the help in nameing Priscilla's devil arm. Ladies and Gents say hello to Inforculum. The name is derived from the words for Punishment and Atonement in latin. Key parts of Priscilla's character in my opinion.**

**Please review.**


	3. On Top Of The World

**Holy shit it's been a while.**

**_You're telling me. I've been waiting ages for this._**

**Hey, stuff like this takes a while. I had to redo several of the scenes in this quite a few times. I still don't know if it will go over well.**

**_Meh._**

**Look, I worked hard on this. This fic is my baby. When I saw that there wasn't a DMC Claymore crossover anywhere I dropped everything I was doing and put my full focus into it. This is a fanfic that needs to be written!!!**

**_Well it is a good fic so far._**

**Yeah all the reviewers seemed to like it. I'm kinda sad though that we don't get that many reviews though. Look, to whoever's reading this I don't care if it's just one word please review. I know who you are, I have every email that tells me who subscribes to this fic and rest assured I will hunt you down and pester you until you review.**

**_Creepy._**

**I need reviews man. They acknowledge that I've done something. If I don't get any reviews then it's like all my work was for nothing. The reason I'm writing this is for all of you readers who want to see this crossover written and written right.**

**_You're psychotic!_**

**Speak for yourself Mr. He Who Randomly Attacks His Foot!**

**_Hey, that's a nervous twitch. I can't help it! _**

**You also randomly channel anime characters. That is a sure sign of either **

**A: Too much anime.**

**B: You're crazy.**

**The answer is B because there is no such thing as to much anime.**

**_Hey, being crazy is different from being psychotic!_**

**Never mind. I don't care anymore. Us getting into this argument is like mixing Red Bull with espresso. Nothing good can come of it. I speak from experience.**

**_You mixed Red Bull with espresso. You're a maniac too!_**

**Look, I was snowboarding and my friends had the idea so we tried it.**

**_So you're unable to resist peer pressure!_**

**NO! **

**_Whatever._**

**Anyway, this is the new chapter. There will be a cameo of another anime character in this chapter. You should be able to figure out who he is. Rest assured he will not have much impact on the plot other then in this chapter so don't be discouraged. This will remain in the Claymore verse and characters from other sources will be adapted to the Claymore verse and will be given new back stories. It's essentially just their attitudes that will carry over so they won't be OC's.**

**_We'll make a mention of the first person who guesses who it is._**

**Now onto the story...**

* * *

"So then what happened next?" Miria asked, finding the story quite interesting.

Dante, who had embedded Rebellion into the cliff face and was sitting on the flat of the blade, raised a hand. "It looks like our short haired friend is done pretending to be unconscious."

It was true that Deneve had finally opened her eyes. Helen immediately rushed over to her friend. "Are you alright?"

Deneve grimaced and said, "No, this wound is really bad."

Dante slid off Rebellion and began to root through his pockets. He pulled out a roll of duct tape. He regarded it for a second and tossed it to Miria who caught it deftly.

"What is this?" She asked.

"Duct tape. It'll fix almost anything." Dante said as he continued to go through his pockets. Next he pulled out a small black creature by the scruff of its neck. It had stubby arms and legs, glowing red eyes and a crest of armor around its head that swept down into a pair of short horns. It was holding a green orb and a small square of package.

Dante raised an eyebrow at the creature. He shrugged and opened his other hand, palm facing up. "You and I are gonna go far. I'll take the orb for now but hang on to those." Dante said approvingly. The creature dropped the orb into his hand and Dante put the creature back in his pocket.

"Any reason Shadow is so fond of sitting in your pocket?" Clare asked Dante from where she sat on her own blade that was embedded in the wall in a similar style to Dante's.

"Maybe he just wants to look cute." Dante suggested.

Miria, still holding the duct tape, regarded the pair curiously. "Was that the doppelganger you mentioned?"

Dante nodded. "The kid thought he needed a better name then Deathvoid." He confirmed, glancing off in the direction that the town Raki was staying in. He looked back at the green orb. "This is the last one I've got. Can you heal your wounds without awakening?" He asked Deneve.

Deneve shook her head. "I don't know." She said and then whimpered from the pain.

"What is that?" Miria asked.

"Crystallized demon blood." Dante explained. "It'll heal her."

"I've never seen anything like it." Miria observed.

"I'm not surprised." Dante confirmed. "For some reason the yoma's blood doesn't crystallize unlike the normal demons I'm used to fighting. Not only that but the demons here are wimps."

"Wimps!" Helen exclaimed. "Did you see what that thing did to us."

"Did you see what Clare did to it?" Dante returned, his trademark smile returning to his face.

The group thought back. They all looked at Dante. "She wasn't even using her full power and yet she destroyed it." He said. His smile disappeared and his voice turned cold. "You need to understand that there are demons out there that could kill you without even trying."

"And you can take these things on?" Helen shot back, angry from what she interpreted as an insult.

"Exactly." Dante replied, his voice still cold.

Helen rose to a fighting stance and charged Dante roaring. "I don't care how strong you are! I'm still gonna kick your ass for that pretty boy!"

Dante waited until the last second and sidestepped Helen. Then, while Helen was still turning Dante pulled out Ivory and shot a layer of skin of her ear. Helen cried out in shock at the feeling of the bullet grazing her and almost over balanced. She spat an oath and yelled. "Don't mock me!" She lined up for another swing but never got to finish the cut as Miria had appeared beside her and grabbed her arm.

"Helen, now is not the time to be so rash." Miria scolded her fellow Claymore. "Your wounded and he's fresh. Not to mention if what he and Clare say is true he's fully capable of fighting on par with an awakened being without even breaking a sweat."

Dante holstered Ivory and added. "Look, you're not weak." He put his hand on Helen's shoulder. "The demons I happen to be talking about are just really really strong." He turned away and raised his arms. "Plus, from what I hear you are all strong warriors. Once I do to you what I did to Clare you'll all be stronger."

He turned back around and took the green orb from Miria. "Screw it. I don't need this thing anyway." He side armed the orb at Deneve and she raised a hand and caught it. The orb flashed and Deneve's wound closed abruptly. In the few seconds that Deneve had her hand away from the tear in her suit Dante glimpsed something horrible. _So that is what Clare was talking about. I guess her triggering healed it. Poor girl, it looks painful._

Deneve looked at Dante and saw the look in his eyes as he averted his gaze. "And you won't have to suffer from the stigma anymore." He whispered. No one but Miria heard him and she flinched at the mention of the affliction that infested the body of the Claymore.

"So, how did you escape the holy city? From what I can tell security would have been really tight that night." Miria asked.

Dante rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well we ran." He started to explain. "Can I have my Duck Tape back now?"

_Rabona, About Five Minutes After Dante Went Up the Tower…_

Clare slowly came two. She felt the sword that she was leaned up against and recognized it for what it was. She kept her eyes closed and tried to remember what had happened. She remembered the man in red and…

Clare's eyes snapped open and she saw Dante sitting across from her in a mirror position, asleep. Clare then noticed that he wasn't wearing his coat, exposing his upper body to the cold night air. Clare felt warm leather around her and saw that she was wearing his coat. She also noticed that she was naked under it. _What the hell is going on here? _

Dante stirred slightly and Clare tensed. She slowly moved her arm to the sword behind her. The fingers on her right hand grasped the hilt and she realized that it wasn't her sword. The grip felt welcoming so she closed her hand around it anyway. She pulled her knees to her chest and put her feet flat on the stone. In a sudden movement she shifted her weight forewords and pulled the sword from the stone behind her. Sitting on her feet with the sword resting upon her shoulder she observed that the sound had woken Dante. Leaping forewords she swung the sword in a backhand swing at Dante's neck, intending to decapitate him.

About halfway through the swing Dante opened his eyes, at a quarter swing he had started to react. The swing reached its mark, but Dante had moved just in time, the sword only cut his throat rather than decapitating him, still Clare assumed the blow she had dealt was a deathblow. Her surprise was evident when Rebellion impaled her and nailed her to the pillar behind her. Clare stared down at the blade in shock. Expecting herself to start losing consciousness Clare felt all the more surprise when Dante, hand covering his throat, got up and began to walk over to her. She raised the sword and swung again, the sword nailing her to the pillar a mere inconvenience.

"Stop it already." Dante pleaded as he leaned back to avoid the slash. "You already impaled me and cut my throat, what more do you want?"

Clare's eyes widened in shock at the lack of a wound on Dante's throat. _So I did stab him. How is able to regenerate like that?!"_

"Now before you start chopping you should know the kids alright. Not a scratch on him. He and Vincent are on their way here now." Dante explained. "I know I've got a lot of explaining to do but right now just calm down."

Clare looked at him strangely as he put his hand on Rebellion's hilt and said, "On three, ready one, two." Clare felt pain and Dante yanked the sword from her chest. Clare staggered and straitened. She looked at her chest and saw that no wound was present.

"I'll tell you this much. You can kiss your little demonic presence problem goodbye. You're like me now." Dante said as he leaned on Rebellion.

"Like you…?" Clare asked him, not understanding. She put a hand to her chest and found no sign of the blade ever having pierced her.

"Put your sword away and I'll tell you more." Dante said.

Clare looked down at the sword in her hands and saw for the first time what it really looked like. She saw Dante leaning on Rebellion and noticed the resemblance this sword had to his. Dante put the sword behind his back and it stuck there.

"You try." Dante instructed.

_Who the hell is this guy? Well I don't have much of a choice considering how easily he beat me._

Clare wordlessly complied, finding to her surprise that the sword attached itself to her back by what felt like a faint yoki aura.

"See, easy." Dante said.

"Long story short, you were turning into a demon and I took it upon myself to try to stop that from happening. So I made you like me." Dante explained.

"Like you?" Clare asked again.

"You are now naturally bonded to your own demonic side." Dante answered.

Clare remembered the sudden rush of power and the feeling of flight just before she fell unconscious.

"That sword," Dante said as he gestured to the sword that was slung across Clare's back, "is the physical manifestation of your power or something like that. At least that's how pops explained it to me."

Clare reached over her shoulder and pulled the sword, surprised again when it came free from her back at a thought. She brought it to eye level and examined the edge.

"You like?" Dante asked. "If your can't say I'm pretty sure we could find a demon or two to test it out on."

Clare returned her sword to her back. "Who are you?"

Dante jerked his thumb at his chest. "The name's Dante. I'm a devil hunter. Somewhat like you." He lowered his arm. "You're Clare, right?

Clare nodded. "I saw you wound Raki. How is it that he's alright?"

Dante smirked and snapped the fingers on his right hand. Out of a shadow directly to the right of Clare, Doppelganger rose. Clare's grip tightened on her sword when Doppelganger's form changed into Raki's.

"Hi." Doppelganger said in Raki's voice.

Clare's eyes widened in shock.

"He can imitate anyone he sees perfectly." Dante said as Doppelganger transformed back to his regular form. Doppelganger gave a small bow before fading into the shadows.

At that moment a loud banging came from the trap door near their position. Dante turned and called. "Vincent?"

"Yes, please open the trap door." Came Vincent's worried voice. Dante bent over and yanked hard on the handle of the trap door, opening it. Clare pulled Dante's coat tighter to cover herself.

As soon as the door opened Raki leapt out. "Clare!" He cried as he embraced a shocked Clare and began to sob into her shoulder. Clare regarded the crying boy and slowly embraced him back. "Please don't ever do something like that again." Raki whimpered as he continued to cry into her shoulder.

"For what it's worth I'm sorry I had to put you through that." Dante said from over by the trap door as he helped Vincent through it.

"I am as well." Vincent said. "Mr. Dante came to me with this idea and I couldn't just sit by and watch."

Raki released his grip on Clare and turned to face the two. "And what idea was that?" Raki yelled furiously. "Why did you have to attack her and put her through that?"

Dante closed his eyes and replied casually, "You saw what she turned into. If I hadn't done something she would have stayed like that. What I did saved her."

Raki stood unconvinced. "But the only reason she started to…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Dante opened his eyes. "You have to understand kid, her turning into a demon would have happened anyway. Maybe she could have forced it back, maybe with a little help from you. But the facts stand that as long as she remained an artificial hybrid she would have turned eventually." He walked forewords and put a hand on Raki's shoulder. "The thing is kid you were the one responsible for her ability to control her demonic side, not me. You were the one who gave her something to fight for."

Clare glanced down at her body. The power she felt flowing through her made her feel as though she could just jump of the tower and take on the world. She looked over to Dante and Vincent. "You don't need to apologize to me. What you have done here…" She paused for a second. "You saved me from a fait that I once thought inescapable." Clare kneeled down. "I owe you a debt."

Dante raised his hands up. "Whoa whoa, easy there. I don't know about the priest but I'm not into the whole debt thing. I was just happy to help." The more perverted sections of Dante's mind had started formulating their own plans for the repayment but Dante squelched them. Now was not the time or the place.

Vincent smiled and said, "It was my duty as a faithful servant of God to assist in any way I could. I just hope that I was able to help you."

Clare didn't respond. She stayed on her knees.

"Oh for Pete's sake, on your feet!" Dante barked. Clare raised her head. "Look, I don't give a shit about anything you believe you owe me. You were the one who was able to Devil Trigger, you were the one who saved the kid and you are the one who is going to go on and save even more people from these yoma things!" He paused. "Look, if you want to repay me for anything just help me save as many of your fellows from turning into demons!"

Clare nodded and replied. "Then that is what I will do."

Dante nodded in approval. He offered a hand to Clare. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Good." He turned to Raki, "What's your name?"

"Raki." He responded.

"Alright, Raki." Dante, turned to Vincent. "Can you bring Raki here to the gates of the city tomorrow."

Vincent nodded. "And what will you be doing?"

"I've got to get Clare here back to her inn. She isn't exactly decent right now." Dante explained. Clare nodded in affirmation. Running around a city clad in just a red coat was not something that anyone should do.

"You promise you'll be there?" Raki asked.

"Kid, I wouldn't even dream of leaving you behind." Dante said. "Come on Clare, follow my lead." With those words Dante back flipped over the lip of the tower. Clare followed suit.

Raki ran over to the tower lip to watch the duo land side by side on the ground and run off into the shadows. Vincent put his hand on the boys head and said, "They'll be alright, if the damage they caused downstairs is any indication anything they run into out there will be easy for them to face."

_With Dante and Clare…_

Clare felt wonderful, it as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She and Dante dashed through the streets and occasionally took to the rooftops. Any guards they encountered were either silently knocked unconscious or avoided all together. Clare even performed a few unnecessary acrobatics that she never would have used normally but she just had to find away to disperse the boundless energy that filled her. Dante noticed her condition and as soon as they reached the inn he yanked the window open and said, "Get dressed, we've got places to be."

Clare wordlessly complied and as soon as she landed inside she pulled off Dante's coat and threw it at him. When he caught it the coat covered his face. _So much for sneaking a peak…_ Dante thought to himself.

Clare however was having different thoughts. While pulling up her undergarments she saw that her stomach was… unmarred. Clare's mind raced a mile a minute as she stared at the place where the horrifying affliction once twisted the flesh of her torso. She closed her eyes and opened them again, thinking what she saw was some illusion her mind had fabricated. Nothing but smooth skin greeted her, nothing but smooth flawless skin. She wasn't twisted anymore. Clare felt like bursting out into crazed laughter. For the first time in so many years she felt… happiness.

She pulled the one-piece garment on and slung her sword back into its position on her back. She turned to look at Dante who still stood waiting with the coat draped over his head.

"You can look now." Clare said.

Dante nodded his head causing the coat to slip off. Dante caught it and put it back on. He replaced Ebony & Ivory in their respective holsters and Rebellion on his back. Dante stepped onto the window sill and turned to Clare. He grinned fiercely and held out a hand. "Shall we go?"

Clare stared at him for a second before taking his hand. Dante summoned up his own demonic heritage and shifted into partial devil trigger. He stepped out into empty space and floated there. Clare stared dumbstruck at the half devil. Dante smiled at her, his face, though more fearsome, still held the same cocky yet endearing look that had been plastered across it since they left the cathedral. Clare, before she even realized she had done it, transformed to. She stepped out onto the air to and felt herself floating.

"Let's fly." Dante whispered. With those words he pulled Clare up into the air and flew into the night. Clare felt herself flying and for the first time in her life she felt… free. This man, Dante, had done so much for her, a complete stranger. Why had he done it? No, that question could wait, it was time to enjoy the moment.

Dante released Clare's hand and was happy to see her continue on her own power. The flew up into the night until they were far above Rabona and could see for miles. Dante held out a hand to indicate Clare to stop. Dante summoned up the red mandala that he normally used as a platform to jump off of during combat. He sat on the edge of it and motioned for Clare to do the same. Clare wordlessly complied. Dante let his transformation ebb and felt Clare mimic him. Dante continued to push his energy into the mandala causing it's bonji covered surface to persist instead of fading.

"So how does it feel to be on top of the world?" Dante asked.

Clare didn't know how to answer that. As a little girl she had always had dreams of flying and now that childish fantasy had come to life right in front of her. Clare looked down and saw the shapes of the buildings far below them. "It feels… good… I guess." She answered finally.

Dante looked at her oddly. "Good, you guess. Are you kidding me? Don't tell me you never dreamed of flying when you where young."

Clare stared out into space. "I guess I just have a lot to think about right now."

Dante smiled and asked, "What's on your mind?"

Clare looked at him and asked, "Why?"

Dante looked up at the stars and smiled. "I don't know, maybe it's my never ending kindness or my drive for justice." He replied jokingly. "Or maybe," he added quietly, "It just felt good to save someone." He looked back at Clare. "What about you? Whatever possessed you to put the flesh of a demon inside yourself?"

Dante saw Clare flinch when he said "flesh of a demon" and filed that away in the back of his mind for later discussions.

Clare looked down at her hands. "When a person's family is killed by a yoma or something else the Organization takes them and makes them warriors."

Upon hearing that Dante lost his temper, if only for a brief moment. The mandala below him glowed brighter for a brief second before returning to normal. Clare noticed this. She tried pushing her own energy into the mandala and found that it responded to her.

Dante laughed at this and said, "Keep up the flow." He cut of his own energy and watched the mandala turn white. Clare continued to push her own energy into mandala and found that maintaining it was much more difficult then she thought. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she continued to funnel energy into the mandala. She felt her control falter for a moment but Dante was there to assist her. The mandala shown both white and red for some time as both its occupants funneled there energy into it.

After another few minutes of this Dante asked Clare, "So, this Organization forced you to become a Claymore?"

Clare shook her head. "We are not Claymores. That is just a name given to us by the people."

Dante took note that Clare seemed to be steering the subject away from her origins. He wasn't that surprised, after all they had just met. Well, that was O.K. with him. He'd wait a while and then ask again.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?" Dante asked.

Clare shook her head. In truth she wanted to know everything she could about the devil hunter but she couldn't bring herself to ask him. It was strange, emotions that had once laid buried under thick layers of coldness, mistrust and cynicism where starting to come to the surface. It had all started when she had met Raki and now the feelings that she was experiencing threatened to all come spilling out. It was horrifying but at the same time it felt good. Maybe she was still human, at least inside.

"Hello, anybody in there?" Dante said as he waved a hand in front of her face. Clare turned to look at him quizzically. "Don't look at me like that, you've been spaced out for about five minutes."

"Sorry," Clare apologized.

"Oh don't sweat it." Dante said. He slapped Clare on the back. "So, you up for a little demon hunting?"

Clare looked at her hands for the umpteenth time and nodded. Even if the organization frowned upon it she didn't really care. Killing yoma was in her job description after all.

"Cool." Dante said. "Let's see if we can find any from up here." Dante stretched out his senses. Clare did the same thing and realized that with her new power her senses had increased as well. After about two minutes of this Dante found something. His eyes shot open. "Holy shit, it's a whole flock of them." He exclaimed. "And it looks like they found one of your friends. We'd better book it and then some."

With that Dante disengaged the mandala and he and Clare started to fall towards the earth. Dante transformed again and Clare along with him. They pulled out of their dive and flew off in the direction of the yoma energy signatures.

_Present Time…_

"Awe, you guys had a moment." Helen crooned mockingly. Clare felt her face heat up. She mentally slapped herself and reminded herself that it was bad to kill her allies.

Dante rubbed his forehead. "Look, I don't think I can keep this up without some booze. Let's head back to town."

Upon hearing this Helens face brightened considerably. "I'm all for that!" She said excitedly.

Miria shook her head. "I don't know. People don't take to kindly to us."

Dante laughed and said, "Don't worry, I'm friends with the guy who owns the place. He's cool with it. In fact he said that even if I hadn't asked he would've been O.K. with it. He likes you warriors apparently."

Miria cocked her head oddly. "A human who likes our kind?"

"Yep, he's a really great guy. Helped him out with a few troublesome customers and a stray yoma that just happened to show up after you guys left town yesterday." Dante explained.

"Define helped." Miria returned.

"Well, these people didn't want to take no for an answer so we threw them out. Right when he was thanking me a yoma walked in." Dane said. "After we dumped the body I asked if I could bring some friends by. He said sure."

"He didn't ask questions about how you killed the yoma." Miria said.

"Didn't seem to care. He just talked about how anyone who took down yoma was a friend of his. 'Claymores are hero's' he said. 'They deserve respect because they save people, not respect out of fear'" Dante told her.

"I'd really like to meet this man." Clare said.

"I would too." Deneve added.

"Me three." Helen said.

Miria looked at the three and said, "You do realize that we are still wounded and are uniforms have been torn up." A loud tearing noise was heard in Dante's direction. Miria looked over at him to see that he had pulled out the duck tape and had torn off a strip.

"I'm no tailor but like I said, this stuff'll fix anything." Dante said triumphantly.

_Five hours later, around 10 o'clock that night…_

The group of three Claymores, two half demons and one shadow demon had reached the town that they had come from, Clare, Helen, Deneve and Miria sporting Duck tape patches on their clothes. Soon enough they came to the bar that Dante had mentioned. A small building on a hill near the outskirts of town the bar had a pair of windows that shined with warm light of a fire within. A tile roof and a small wooden door completed the building. A sign above the door read, "Wind and Waves".

Dante walked up to the door and knocked on it. Soon enough the door opened revealing a young man with spiky blond hair held back by a headband of white cloth, blue eyes and a warm smile. Upon seeing the group gathered outside he did a double take. "Dante, you brought four of them." He gasped. He stepped back and motioned them inside. "Damn you work fast."

One word described the interior of the bar, cozy. One side of the room had a long bar and facing the bar was a long couch. A fire crackled in a stove behind the bar. The man hopped over the bar with the ease of a person who performed the motion constantly. Turning to face the group he said, "Sit down."

The group wordlessly complied. The three Claymores and Clare shocked at the fact that Dante hadn't exaggerated on the man's apparent liking of Claymores. "The names Tomina." The man said. "What'll you have? It's on the house."

Dante spoke up, "Just hit us with whatever you think is best. That and some pizza."

"What's pizza?" Everyone asked.

The room suddenly turned so quite one could have dropped a hair and everyone would have been able to hear it, even without the enhanced senses that they had. Dante's mouth hung open in horror. "Never heard of pizza." He whispered. He turned to Tomina, "Bread dough, tomato's, cheese and any meat you have, right now." He said urgently. Tomina looked at him weirdly but complied and went off and retrieved the requested items. "Get some beer to." Dante then began to do what anyone does in the face of those who had not had the wonder that is pizza. He tossed the dough into the air like a pro Italian chef and chopped the tomatoes. Tomina stared at him weirdly and so did everyone else. Doppelganger, our Shadow as he was now called, crawled out of Dante's pocket. He hopped out and face planted onto the floor. Tomina stared at the strange creature. He reached down to poke it. Doppelganger looked up at him and hissed.

Tomina jumped on top of the bar with his arms in defensive posture. "What the hell is that thing?!" He yelled. Dante turned from his frenzied pizza making to throw an apple at doppelganger who took the fruit and jumped onto the bar. He turned to look at Tomina and opened his mouth impossibly wide for a creature of his size and shoved the apple in. Doppelganger swallowed the fruit and promptly fell asleep on the bar.

Clare looked at the shadow demon and then to Tomina. "He's a kind of yoma. Don't worry, he won't eat guts. As you can see though he likes apples." She explained monotonously. The rest of the group besides her and Dante stared at the little creature as it snored contentedly on the bar top.

"That's a yoma?" Tomina muttered as he slid of the bar. "And it eats apples?" Soon enough he started giggling like and insane person. "Now I've seen everything." He let out a loud peal of laughter before slamming his head into the bar. The three Claymores stared at the man strangely. Clare just sighed, closed her eyes and wondered how Raki was doing.

Clare was snapped out of her reverie when Dante called out in an Italian accent, "There, she is finished." Dante swept around in a dramatic flourish revealing a simple, but absolutely perfect pepperoni pizza. It got a quintuple set of raised eyebrows.

"What is it?" Deneve finally asked.

"This is pizza." Dante said as he waved his arms above the pies surface, causing the aroma to waft towards Clare and the three Claymores. The wonderful smell filled there nostrils and all four of them found themselves salivating.

"It smells goooooooooooooood…" Helen said, moaning out the last part which caused Deneve and Miria to scoot away from her a little.

"And good it is. Tomina, bring me the beer." Dante ordered. Tomina nodded and retrieved the booze. Six mugs of the brew where placed onto the bar.

Dante pulled a knife from under the bar and cut the pizza up into six slices. "Go on, take it, eat it." Dante offered

Helen, being the hungriest of the bunch, readily complied. The pizza left the bar and the front of it entered Helen's mouth. She bit of a section and chewed experimentally. No sooner had she swallowed the piece she had chewed did she cram the rest of the piece into her mouth. She swallowed that to before downing the beer in front of her in a single gulp. "…" She moaned out. Miria and Deneve scooted even further away.

"I told you so." Dante said happily.

_The Next Morning…_

Dante woke up under a pile of empty glasses and stray pizza crusts. His head pounded with a fierce hangover. He focused his energy on the headache and soon enough it went away. He sat up and brushed the debris from his front. Glancing around he found himself on the couch of the bar_. _He looked over to see Tomina cleaning a glass.

"He man, what's up?" Dante asked the bartender. Tomina turned and glared at him. "Alright, what happened?"

Tomina put the glass down and said, "Well, first off, you and that Claymore got sloshed and the Claymore tried to make out with her short haired friend while the other two looked on. Then the sloshed one tried to make out with me…" Tomina trailed off. "Oh what the hell, it was the best night of my life."

"Wait, Helen tried to make out with Deneve. How the hell do I not remember that?" Dante asked. He looked down at the multitude of empty cups that lay on and around him. "Oh."

Tomina picked up another glass and started to clean it to. "Anyway, the long haired one, Miria was her name I think, wanted to talk to you once you woke up."

Dante got off the couch and brushed the rest of the debris of his chest. "I wonder what it's about." He got up to leave.

Halfway out the door Tomina called to him, "Swing by again if you get the chance. Also, if you see any Claymores tell them that Wind and Waves is always open if they ever need anything."

"No problem dude. Thanks for everything." Dante said as he closed the door.

_Outside…_

Dante walked out into the sunshine. He looked out to see the three Claymores and the half demon Clare waiting for him. Helen had taken to the branch of a tree and was lounging on top of it with her back against the trunk and her eyes closed. Deneve had situated herself against the trunk at the bottom of the tree. Miria and Clare were talking quietly in the shadows of the trees leaves. The people passing by gave the group fearful glances which annoyed Dante greatly.

Dante calmly walked up the Miria and said, "You needed something?"

"Yes, but I don't think it's a good idea to talk about it here." Mira confirmed.

Dante nodded. Before he could ask where they were going he noticed something. "Hold up. Looks like there's another one."

"Another one?" Miria asked.

As soon as Dante said this Clare stretched out her senses and sure enough there was another yoma in the crowd of people. She also noticed it was making its way out of the town right past their position.

"Hey Clare, you want this one?" Dante asked.

"Sure." Clare answered. Dante laughed and pulled Ebony & Ivory from there holsters. He quickly reversed his grip, holding the guns out for Clare to take. "You want me to use these?" Clare asked him.

Dante nodded again. "It's about time you learned how to shoot." He said. "I don't know how but one of these days we're going to get you a pair of guns."

Clare nodded and took the pistols. Turning in a dramatic flourish that Clare knew would please Dante, Clare brought the Ebony & Ivory to bare on the yoma. People began to notice exactly what was going on just as Clare fired. The disguised Yoma's head exploded in a cloud of gore as a hail of bullets tore into it. Purple blood flew into the air, someone screamed.

"Sheesh, overkill much?" Helen asked from her perch up in the tree.

Clare didn't respond as she tossed Ebony & Ivory back to Dante who caught both pistols and sent them spinning into their respective holsters.

Miria sighed and said, "Let's just go, we've caused enough trouble as it is." Without further ado the three Claymore's and the duo of half demons leapt of, moving at top speed away from the town. _It's time we addressed the issue at hand. Hopefully Dante will be able to shed some light on partially awakening._

"Hey wait a minute. We forgot Raki!" Dante yelled.

_The Previous Night, At a Nameless Town…_

A woman ran frantically through the alleyways of the town, calling for help all the while. Soon enough a dark shape tackled the woman to the ground and pinned her wrists to the ground. The leering visage of a yoma greeted her.

"Looks like its dinner time." The yoma growled happily as it raised its clawed hand to kill the woman. The woman closed her eyes and screamed again. She felt something warm spray on her face. She opened her eyes again to see a large blade had pierced the chest of the yoma. She watched as small figure with the proportions of a teenage girl lift the yoma up via the scythe blade attached to her right arm. The yoma gurgled as its own blood filled its throat. The girl lifted up her left arm and with a clean stroke of her left hand cut the yoma's head off. The girl threw her right arm to the side and the yoma's body flew into the side of an adjacent building with a splatting noise. The girl twisted both her wrists and the scythe blades retracted.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked. The woman stared at the girl with a look of horror all over her face.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked again.

The woman nodded, shaking all over.

"I'm looking for a man in red with a large sword and white hair. Have you seen anyone fitting that description?" The girl asked.

The woman shook her head, still shaking.

"Thank you." The girl said. She then turned around and simply walked away.

_Five Minutes Later…_

Priscilla walked down the dark street calmly. Killing the yoma had been a simple task that had not taken much effort on her part. Her exterior was just a façade however. Her mind churned with thoughts of guilt and sorrow. Once Vergil had fought her memories had started to return. Priscilla had begun to get back what she once was. She couldn't remember their names but she remembered the faces of the Claymores that she had killed when she had awakened. She remembered the face of the little girl who screamed when she severed the head of the woman that she had hunted. She remembered the tears that had flowed so freely from the girls eyes. Priscilla noticed that her hands were bleeding, she had been clenching her hands so tightly that she had cut her palms. She watched as the wounds healed.

"I don't deserve this." Priscilla spoke aloud. "I don't deserve to be alive."

Priscilla banished her thoughts when she heard a noise behind her. She heard footsteps and the sound of something large and metal being dragged across the ground. "Who's there." She called. No one answered. She heard nothing but the sound of footsteps and grinding metal. She backed away from the direction of the noise in fear. She saw a shadow. It looked humanoid. Humanoid all except for the head, which tapered to a sharp point. It was holding something.

"Priscilla." Vergil said from behind her.

Priscilla turned quickly, eyes wide and scythes extended. "Oh, I'm sorry Vergil." She said respectfully.

Vergil's appearance had changed since he had first arrived in this place. His coat had not been replaced so he was left with only his armored vest to cover his torso. Yamato remained strapped to his back instead of in his hand. Vergil had wrapped his forearms in bandages with the ends of the strips reaching to his knees and waving in the wind.

"Your reaction was expectable." Vergil said uncaringly. "You did not recognize me at first and you prepared to defend yourself. Your reaction was natural."

Priscilla looked back in the direction of the shadow to see that it had vanished.

"Speak, I am the Crimson One." Vergil said. "The Lies and the Mist are not They, but I. I shall bring down bitter vengeance upon thee and thou shalt suffer my eternal wrath. Thou shalt ever call on me and all that is me in the place that is silent."

Priscilla turned to look at him. "What does that mean?" She asked.

"Something my father told me." Vergil said. "It appears you have called to it."

"It?" Priscilla asked again. "You heard it to?"

"Yes I did. Do not worry, it will not harm you as long as I am near." Vergil confirmed. "It is a product of the guilt you feel."

"A demon?" Priscilla asked worriedly.

"An executioner." Vergil corrected.

"Why is it coming after me?" Priscilla asked frantically.

"The guilt you feel for your past crimes as well as the hatred felt towards you by one who you have wronged. Those emotions give it form and substance." Vergil explained.

"So I am to die?" Priscilla asked quietly.

"If you do not face your sins than yes." Vergil said. "But do not worry, it will be a long time before it will be able to physically harm you. Even at that point you would still be able to defeat it. Be warned though, it will just keep coming back."

Priscilla looked down at her feet.

Vergil sighed and muttered, "I sense at some point you will encounter the one you have wronged. You will have to make your peace then and there."

Priscilla's eyes remained downcast. "I wish things were so simple."

"Come Priscilla. It is time we left." Vergil ordered. He turned around and began to walk away. Priscilla followed him, unsure of the future.

**_The plot thickens._**

**Do you think I did good?**

**_Yes._**

**Thank you. So, who can guess the random cameo? Rest assured he will not appear in any other chapters until much later so don't worry about him too much.**

**_Why did you make Helen try to make out with Deneve?_**

**You haven't gotten into that part of the manga yet. Helen is scary when she's smashed. It just seems like something she would do.**

**_I thought it was because you were a pervert._**

**NO! Look, there are only a few Claymores who I can legitimately call lesbians. Any reason for them being lesbians is probably do to mental trauma and the fact that no one other than their fellow Claymores will except them. That and there is no way that Undine can be that manly and not be one… or maybe she can. I really don't know.**

**_So does that mean that…_**

**There will be no Yuri in this fic. There will be jokes about it but I won't be going to deep into any of those kinds of relationships. Any pairings will be strait and any inter-Claymore relationships will be handled with a more sister-like style. **

**_Dante won't be happy then. You know how he is._**

**Trust me, that's going to be a major running gag. So, can anyone guess what the thing chaseing Priscilla is? Please tell me in reviews. **

**_Please review so that way he'll shut up about it._**

**Please?**


	4. And So It Begins

**Hey everybody! I'm not dead! I was just taking a very very very very…**

_**We get the point!**_

**(Whimpers.) Long break.**

_**You were loafing.**_

**No I wasn't! I was gaining experience with other animes and doing some catching up with Devil May Cry. I played through both of them and got S rank on every mission in 4. I also watched the entirety of Code Geass and Fooly Cooly. I also rewatched Claymore several times as well as the DMC anime. I've been getting inspiration.**

_**So you where loafing off.**_

**No!**

_**Anyway where back with the next chapter.**_

**But I'm not done.**

_**What else do you want to say?**_

**I want to say that I love Claymore for many reasons outside of the traditional three B's that attract males to anime.**

_**Battle, Blades n' Babes.**_

**That's it. Those three are all great but there is one thing in it that totally sold me. Something I never would have expected from a Shonen anime and manga.**

_**What.**_

**The women don't dress in impractical fanservice outfits. Granted the leotard thing is a little tight but it serves a purpose. Yagi found a way to make them look great without making them dress scantily for no reason. I mean, look at Witch Blade. That is supposed to be armor, ARMOR. What does it cover? Only enough so that the show isn't classified as a hentai! Seriously, I'm a guy, I like hot girls, but for Pete's sake stop turning every female character into walking fanservice. A little fanservice is fine but don't be all like: Look, boobs. Boobs and ass for everyone! What purpose does that serve?**

_**O.K. we get it, you hate pointless fanservice. On with the fic!**_

_Somewhere…_

Rubel strolled casually through the woods. He smiled as he came upon another member of the Organization. Ermita nodded in greeting.

"So my friend, what news from the higher-ups?" Rubel asked.

"You are to continue sending your charge on special missions." Ermita answered. "Our esteemed masters have decided to cull our ranks of undesirables." He paused. "It saddens me immensely to see our little girls turn into monsters."

"Me too Ermita, me too." Rubel answered.

Ermita said not another word. He turned around and left. His cloak shrouded form disappearing into the darkness of the forest around them.

The smile never left Rubel's face as a small piece of metal slid from his sleeve. With a deft twist of his hand the butterfly knife opened and flew into a tree. _Soon, very soon you'll see how much of a monster I can be. _Rubel turned back the way he had come. Calmly reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small black bag. Reaching inside he pulled out a small pill and popped it into his mouth. _Soon._

_With Dante and Co…_

"Where are we going?" Raki asked as Dante carried him piggyback after the Claymores and Clare at top speed.

"Where ever Miria wants us to go." Dante responded. They had been moving at top speed for about five minutes and had covered a lot of ground in Dante's opinion. He wondered where Miria was leading them.

"Where are we going?" Dante called up to Miria.

"Here" Miria said as she began to slow down. Dante looked around to see that they had arrived at a small copse of trees that sat by the main road.

"Think fast!" Dante yelled as he stopped abruptly and Raki flew over his shoulders. Raki twisted in the air and came down on his feet. He rolled in a break fall and popped up rubbing his shoulder.

"I wish you wouldn't do that." Raki muttered. He rotated his shoulder a few times.

"Well you seem to be getting it down." Dante congratulated. Clare looked at the two and sighed.

"What?" Dante said indignantly. "If he's gonna help us he needs to get stronger."

Helen started laughing. "He's a human, how's he supposed to help."

Dante looked at the girl and said, "I once knew a girl who went through a demonic tower full of demons and killed everything that got in her way. Shot me in the head twice. Don't underestimate the human will."

"O.K. Sheesh." Helen said in placating manner.

Miria stepped forwards. "I'm sorry to say this but Helen had a point. When he's older he may be able to slay normal yoma but he's only a child now." She said.

Dante nodded. "That's why we start now." He replied in a Russian accent. "Get him ready for future as human yoma slayer."

"I just hope you know what you're doing." Miria whispered.

"So you wanted to talk about something?" Dante asked. "If it was important enough to have to come out here I think you better spill quick."

Miria nodded to Dante and turned to face Helen and Deneve. "I already know Clare's answer to this but I need to know yours. This may be hard for you to say but have you ever surpassed your limit and almost awakened?"

Helen took a step back reflexively and Deneve looked like she had been slapped. Helen exhaled and nodded. "Yes, I've done it. I overestimated myself and went over my limit."

"But you managed to snap yourself out of it somehow." Miria returned.

"O.K. I've done it to." Deneve admitted. "I wanted to see how far I could go and I overstepped my limit just like Helen."

Clare took a step foreword. "But you both pushed it back. How were you able to?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just too proud to give in." Deneve said.

"But awakening isn't just painful, it is also extremely pleasurable. Most can't resist." Miria described. "What did you experience Clare?"

"I didn't. I guess rage clouded everything." Clare said. "When I released my yoki power fighting Dante I didn't stop to think how much power I was using. I just pushed further and further until I transformed into an awakened being, or at least something close to one."

"Take it from me. That thing was scary." Dante interrupted. "I don't think she awakened completely but she was pretty damn close."

"Anyway," Clare continued, "I kept pushing without stopping until I 'triggered'."

"So continuously pushing your limits is what causes the 'triggering' to happen?" Miria asked.

Dante shook his head. "I don't think so. I think it's more of an emotional thing. You have to have a reason to fight." He paused. "Or it could be something else."

"Besides the ability to transform into stronger forms does it do anything else?" Miria asked.

Clare nodded. "I noticed an overall increase in my abilities in strength, agility and the like. It also imparts an increased ability for regeneration. I don't know about growing back limbs but slash and stab wounds heal almost instantly. Blunt trauma also becomes a mere inconvenience. At this point I think the only thing that can kill something like Dante and I is decapitation."

Miria closed her eyes in thought. "That sounds similar to what I've been going through but at a larger scale. Do you think that surpassing your limit and returning to normal is somewhat like triggering?" She asked.

Dante rubbed his chin. "Possibly, you probably just lacked the necessary emotional need to trigger. If you keep pushing your limits and if the right circumstances are met then you should trigger."

"So wait a minute. Miria, you almost awakened?" Helen asked. "I can't see someone like you doing that."

Miria closed her eyes and Dante thought he saw the beginnings of tears. "It happened on my third hunt for an awakened being. Sadly that awakened being happened to be someone I knew."

And so Miria told her story. Looks of curiosity changed to ones of sadness and anger.

"So, what now? You three are partially awakened and the organization caused you to kill your best friend. What should we do?" Dante asked.

Miria stood silently, eyes closed in contemplation. "Well, my overall plan is the complete and utter destruction of the Organization." She said. "But that goal is a long way off. I firstly need a way to bring the crimes of the Organization into the light."

_Nameless town…_

Isley walked through yet another town. Vergil had been sending him on these errands for quite some time.

Vergil had given him clear instructions. "You are to go into your assigned town and search for a man with white hair carrying a large sword. You are to be as discreet as possible unless an opportunity to make yourself appealing to the people presents itself. If such an event is to arise you are to play the part of a heroic figure and to save someone from whatever is ailing them. You are then to be more public with your search. Try to avoid using your demonic abilities unless absolutely necessary. If you discover this man or someone who knows his whereabouts contact me immediately by sending out pulses of demonic energy in an ABAB sequence. Until I arrive do not attempt to engage the target."

Isley had been through about ten towns by this point. It was starting to get on his nerves. He had saved women from drunks, beaten up robbers, helped old people carry heavy things; he'd even gotten a girls cat down from a tree. No one knew anything. Well, at least no one had found out what he was and thrown a fit. Luck seemed to be with him as far as stealth was going.

Looking around he observed the town and its inhabitants, simple people with simple lives. Here there was a potter selling his wares, there a blacksmith working under a shade; Simple people with no idea that the most powerful yoma currently walking the land was in there midst. It was ironic really. The humans treated their saviors with disdain and fear because of their inhuman eyes and abilities while a monster like him was able to walk freely among them because he looked human. Ironic… ironic and sickening.

Isley looked out into the crowd and his eyes came across something he wasn't expecting. "Vergil will be pleased." Isley whispered.

_An undisclosed location…_

Vergil sat in a cross legged position on a slab of rock in the center of a dark cave. Lights of various colors floated around him. Deep in meditation he manipulated the arcane energy that surrounded him. The sound of footsteps broke through his reverie. He opened his eyes to see Galatea calmly walking towards him.

Galatea knelt before Vergil. "My lord, I have news."

"You do not need to address me as lord Galatea. Such formalities are bothersome and unnecessary." Vergil said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Yes, Vergil." Galatea said. She remained in a kneeling position however. "While on a mission for the Organization I made a discovery. There is another one who has achieved the status of a true half demon."

"Why did you not contact me then? If I was not responsible then it must have been Dante's doing?" Vergil asked. He knew Galatea must have had a good reason otherwise she would have contacted him.

"I was under observation by one of the senior members of the Organization. Him learning of you and your brother would be problematic. Also, if we where to make him disappear there would be a search for the cause of death." Galatea explained.

Vergil nodded in understanding. Attention at this point was something he did not want. Dealing with the Organization would be time consuming and was something he wanted to save until he had dealt with Dante. He only hoped that Dante realized the need to be subtle.

"Smart choice. If you should happen across a way to get rid of that man without attracting attention please utilize it." Vergil instructed. He got up and stepped down from the slab. "How is your training progressing?"

"Well." Galatea answered.

Vergil let a small smile grace his lips. Isley followed him out of fear, Priscilla because of a debt she believed she owed him, but Galatea followed him because she desired the power that Vergil had to offer. She saw an opportunity to get stronger. Galatea had never viewed being an artificial half demon as being a curse. She strove for power and would do what she had to do to get it. She however, did not blindly pursue it. She kept her pride. It was because of that pride that Vergil knew Galatea would never betray him. In the weeks that he had known her he had come to trust her more than anyone else in a while. It was a little strange that he would trust anyone considering the betrayal he had suffered at the hands of Arkham. Maybe it was some human emotion. Vergil dismissed the thought. She was a college in pursuit of a goal that would be benefited by helping Vergil with his own.

Vergil drew Yamato from its sheath. "Show me."

Galatea nodded.

_With Isley…_

"Well Ms. Luciela, what a pleasure it is to see you again." Isley said politely.

"A pleasure to see you as well." The Abyssal one of the south answered. Dressed quite plainly the Abyssal one didn't look very intimidating. Just a young woman.

"So, did you come here to fight or for some other reason?" Luciela asked coyly.

"I plan to accomplish the latter, through the use of the former if necessary." Isley explained. "Although which methods to use are not up to me. He should be here soon."

"He? I don't seem to recall you ever taking orders from anyone." Luciela pondered.

No sooner had she said this then the air beside Isley shattered like a pane of glass as Vergil stepped out of the ensuing gap. The hole filled up as quickly as it had opened. Vergil coolly regarded the stunned Luciela and asked Isley, "This is the reason you called me?"

"Allow me the present Luciela, Abyssal one of the south." Isley said sweeping his arm at Luciela.

Luciela regained her composure. "That's a nice trick. Who are you?"

"Your better." Vergil responded.

Luciela regarded the man and then got into a fighting stance. "Whatever. I don't know what caused Isley to follow you but I sure as hell won't."

"Understandable." Vergil answered simply.

Luciela leaped at Vergil and launched a roundhouse kick at his head. Vergil leaned back to avoid the kick. Undaunted Luciela used her momentum to transit into a spinning back kick. This time Vergil brought up an arm to block. The kick hit his arm and stopped dead. Vergil raised an eyebrow.

Luciela growled and launched into a barrage of punches and kicks that where either dodged or blocked. By this point people started to notice and also began to gawk at the unnatural speed that the combatants were moving.

Luciela lunged at Vergil who stepped to the side. Luciela's momentum carried her past him and into the house behind him. She went through the wall and into the interior with a mighty crash. People started screaming.

"Isley, try to make sure no humans get caught in the crossfire. Our image needs maintaining." Vergil instructed.

"No problem." Isley responded. He turned to the crowd of people watching. "I would suggest you run." No sooner had he said this then a feline roar erupted from the wreckage of the house.

Another roar was heard as a now awakened Luciela emerged. Humanoid but with cat like hind legs, two tails and two mouths stacked on top of each other. Both mouths where leering in hideous parodies of smiles. "Now I'm pissed off! You're going to die now!"

"An increase in size will not help you against me." Vergil informed her. He pulled Yamato off his back and drew it from its sheath. A second later he lashed out with Yamato causing an arc of energy to fly at Luciela. Luciela immediately sensed danger and dodged out of the way. The arc however caught one of her tails and to her surprise it didn't do anything.

"What was that? Was it supposed to do something?" Luciela asked mockingly.

Vergil said nothing and swept Yamato back into its sheath. Luciela immediately felt pain and turned to see the portion of her tail that had been hit by the arc start to spurt blood before dropping off.

"What?" Luciela gasped.

And then Vergil was upon her.

_With Dante…_

"So, try to avoid the top five." Miria explained. "Especially you Dante. I have yet to see you fight but from what I saw from Clare beating those in the top ten should be an achievable feet. The problem is if you do the Organization will be alerted to your presence. That could be very problematic."

Dante shrugged. "Whatever. Clare and I will stick to small time stuff, at least for a while."

"Good." Miria said happily. She drew her sword and held it out. "So until we meet again, let's make a promise to stay alive." The others followed suit.

The group nodded to each other and where about to disperse when crushing aura became noticeable to them. It was very far off but the sheer size of the crashing demonic energy made everyone in the group able to notice it.

Dante's eyes narrowed. "It seems like Vergil is having some fun."

"Vergil?" Miria asked.

Dante sighed. "My brother."

"You have a brother!" Helen exclaimed. The perverted sections of her mind, the size of which rivaled Dante's, were going into overdrive.

Dante turned towards her and cautioned her. "Don't. He likes it rough."

Helen laughed. "That doesn't bother me." Her mind filling with even more perverted thoughts, clearly misunderstanding what Dante meant.

Dante shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that."

Deneve got it right then. So did Miria.

"Your not on good terms with him are you?" Miria asked.

Dante nodded. He swept his hair back and sucked in his cheeks a little. Putting on his best scowl he said. "Memorize this face. If you see it, run. If he catches up, don't resist. If he asks you a question don't lie. Failure to comply will cause you to die."

Miria looked at him skeptically. "You seem to not have a problem with helping us, why should he?"

Dante shook his head. "He's not as nice as me. I don't know what the hell he wants but he doesn't give two shits about anyone else. If you get into his way you will die. I enjoy 'playing with my food' so to speak. He'll just kill you."

Miria pressed on anyway. "How strong is he? Is it possible to defeat him? If we all devil trigger like Clare ha-"

Dante cut her off. "Look, I can't put this any simpler. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Him." He flipped his hair back down. "Granted, I kicked his ass once but he did the same to me. Right now I don't know if I can beat him."

"That's awfully humble coming from you." Clare commented.

Dante turned to face her. "When it comes to Vergil I don't mess around. This applies to you to you know."

Clare gave a "hmph" and turned to Miria, Helen and Deneve. "Listen to what he says."

"Whatever." Helen replied, disappointed that a yet another "hottie" had been dangled in front of her only to be pulled away.

"No problem. I owe you anyway." Deneve added.

"I will do as you wish." Miria agreed.

"Good." Dante said happily. "Miria, just so you know, I'm not much of a leader. I'll trust you to decide what's best as far as the organization goes. Just point me in the right direction."

Miria nodded. "I'll do that."

Dante turned around and began to walk away. "Then I'll see you whenever." Clare hurried after him.

_About ten feet away…_

"Victory!" Raki said triumphantly. Shadow hung his tiny head in shame. The human had beaten him. Him! A shadow demon that had been around since the infancy of humanity.

"This is fun." Raki said happily. "Thanks for teaching me this. What is it called again, chopsticks?"

Shadow nodded and shook his head.

"Alright, let's go." Dante called as he reached down and pulled Raki to his feet by his collar. Shadow rolled his small eyes in exasperation as he scrambled up Raki's pant leg and up onto his back and clung there with his head peaking over Raki's shoulder. Raki looked over at the small demon and shrugged. He didn't weigh that much anyway.

"So, where are we going?" Dante asked Clare.

"To get another mission." Clare answered.

"What about that special training?" Dante asked.

"If we pass by we'll check in." Clare said dismissively as she began to pick her way down the road.

"Still not too happy about it I see." Dante muttered.

_Rabona time frame…_

Dante and Clare flew at top speed towards the source of the fighting that they had sensed. They both hurried even more when they noticed the number of distinctively yoma energies disappearing quickly. Dante really didn't want to miss out on any fun.

Soon enough they reached the source of the yoki, just as the last yoma's energy was snuffed out. A clearing in the woods was littered with the bodies of dead yoma. In the center of the devastation was a single figure in a ragged cloak.

"Stay up here. I'll scope this out." Dante told Clare. He cut his transformation and dropped from about five hundred feet up. He landed in a crouch in front of the figure, his demonic heritage making the fall as easy as stepping down a stair. "Yo, did you save any for me?" He called to the figure.

The figure turned and pulled down her hood. "What do you want here awakened being?" She asked coldly. Pointed ears and an aquiline nose decorated a serious face with calm calculating eyes.

"Just to have some fun." Dante responded jokingly. He didn't know what an awakened being was but he had a pretty good idea.

"You'll find no fun here. Just your own death." Irene said in the same cold voice. She brought her sword up into a ready position and Dante saw that she lacked a left arm. He doubted that it would impair her much however.

"The thrill of death is my favorite thing. I've been so board with these pathetic demons anyway." He unlimbered Rebellion from his back.

Irene scoffed. "Why do you remain in your human form. Do you think you can defeat me."

Dante rolled his eyes. "Maybe I prefer this form. Plus I don't want this fight to be over too quickly."

"Do as you wish. It will not help you in the end." Irene replied dismissively.

"Don't hold back." Dante crowed as he shot forwards with a Stinger. His surprise was evident when his sword was blocked. He swept around with another slash and it was deflected as well. He jumped back and he felt the wind from a strike brush the bare skin of his torso. Pain followed as several small cuts opened up on his abdomen.

Irene put her sword in ready position again. "You're going to have to be faster than that." She taunted.

Dante replaced Rebellion on his back as the cuts on his stomach healed. "Time to go to work guys!" He shouted. Ebony & Ivory leapt into his hands and he let loose a furious barrage of lead that flew at Irene like a swarm of angry bees.

If it wasn't for Irene's time as an elite warrior she would not have survived the onslaught. She felt a bullet nick her ear as she managed to dive out of the way. _Projectile weapons! _

Another barrage flew at Irene. The shots where deflected nimbly as Irene used her quicksword to form a barrier. Dante leaped into the air and came down in a helm breaker. This was blocked again. He air tricked into the air and came down in another helm breaker. This too was blocked but he kept hammering down. Air trick and helm breaker repeated themselves several times before Dante back flipped and landed ten feet away. Irene, however she was completely unprepared for what happened next.

"Are you ready?" Dante yelled as he dashed forwards and launched into a brutally fast sequence of swords strikes that were never the less deflected. But then he began to stab outwards at an incredibly fast pace. Irene tried to deflect the attack with her quicksword but was overwhelmed by the power of the technique and had to retreat. Dante chased after her, planted Rebellion into the ground and, with both hands on his sword, spin with incredible speed. Irene dodged the spinning kick but was caught by surprise when Dante used his momentum to translate out of the spin into an upwards slash. He stopped the blade at Irene's throat.

Irene stared at the blade in shock. How had this yoma so quickly overpowered her. She was even more shocked when Dante took his blade away from her throat.

"Well that didn't last long." Dante complained. "Well that little technique of yours caught me by surprise. I only thought you could move a sword that fast if you stabbed."

Irene sighed and closed her eyes. "Well finish it." She whispered.

Dante took the blade away from her throat. Irene's eyes opened again. "Why the hell would I do that?" He asked her incredulously. "You're not a demon, just an artificial hybrid."

Irene looked at him speechlessly. Was this awakened being sparing her because she was half yoma.

"Don't look at me like that." Dante muttered. "I'm a freaking demon slayer who ended up in this place somehow and I still don't know half the stuff that goes on here. I'm guessing an awakened being is one of your kind that went past there limit." He jerked a thumb at his chest. "I'm all natural, that ain't gonna happen to me."

"Demon slayer?" Irene asked almost breathlessly.

"Same job you people have. I guess I'm just better at it." Dante explained. He looked skyward and called. "Clare, get down here."

Up in the sky Clare heard his call and cut the transformation and dropped down. She felt the adrenalin rush of falling and inverted herself, falling head first. She felt the air streams tugging at her body and she pulled out of her dive. She landed with a bit more force than Dante but she was completely unharmed from the fall. Upon seeing each other Irene and Clare flinched noticeably.

Dante looked at the two. "It looks like there is some history here." He commented.

"You don't know the half of it." Clare growled.

_Five minutes later…_

The group had relocated to another section of the woods, one that was a little less… corpsy, Clare starring daggers at Irene the whole way.

"So, care to tell me why Clare is starring at you like you killed her puppy." Dante asked Irene bluntly.

Irene sighed. "You could say that the circumstances that we met under were not the best. Has Clare told you anything of her past?"

"Not much. She can tell me when she's ready. We only just met." Dante replied casually, as if talking about a date.

Irene turned to Clare. "Your aura is almost identical to Teresa's. It is the same with this one. Your aura's are completely at peace."

Clare's eyes widened. "Wait, are you saying that Teresa was one of us."

"If by 'us' you mean this friend of yours and yourself I have no idea." Irene replied. "I have no idea what you are. You have the eyes of one of us yet your aura matches his. He claims to be a natural human yoma hybrid. How did you become one."

Clare indicated Dante with a tilt of her head. "After Teresa's death I became a warrior. I asked them to put her flesh inside of me."

_So that's why she flinched when I said "Flesh of a demon." _Dante thought. _Great, now I feel like a total ass. I'll apologize to her later._

"Your aura was what drew me to this place. I felt it grow large from many miles away so I hurried to this place when I ran into that group of yoma. You can bet that other warriors are headed to this location. I need to leave in order to avoid being discovered." Irene explained. She turned to Dante. "I am interested in you demon hunter. Seek me out in the mountains near the village of Gonall of you wish. I may decide to teach you this technique of mine. That stabbing technique is powerful but it's range is limited."

Irene paused a second. "Bring along the girl to. I owe her at least that much for the sorrow I've caused her."

Irene then vanished into the darkness.

"Well, looks like we've got a date." Dante said sarcastically.

_Current time frame…_

"Why are you so angry at her anyway? She was just following orders." Dante asked.

"She brought Priscilla with her." Clare growled and kept walking.

Raki and Shadow looked at the pair oddly. The relations of grownups and humans where weird.

_One week later…_

Clare calmly beheaded the charging yoma as it rushed towards her. Its headless body fell to join its comrades that already been struck down. It the ground with the sound of flesh striking stone. She flicked the blood of her Devil Arm and sheathed it. Shadow, under orders from Dante, had placed an illusion over it to make it appear like her standard issue Claymore. The illusion acted independently from Shadow so he didn't have to make physical contact with it. Clare just had to recharge the illusion with some yoki every couple of days. That way, Clare could use her Devil Arm whenever she wished without attracting attention.

"Boring." Clare muttered. The townsfolk gathered in the area stared at her and the dead yoma with a mixture of fear and awe.

"Thank you so much." Came to voice of the village chief. His hands held the bundle of money. The money charged for the killing a yoma was a ridiculous price. Downright unnecessary in Clare's opinion. The price of a human life wasn't something that should be decided by money.

"I require no money." Clare responded in her typical, professional monotone. "A man in black will come after I am gone. You will give the money to him."

"Uh, O.K." The man stuttered.

Clare turned to leave. She paused for a second. "The money you posses is only enough for two yoma. There is a third here." She explained with her back turned to the man. "If I were to slay it you would be unable to pay the organizations price and your village would never be allowed service again, no matter the number of yoma."

The man stared at her speechlessly as she started to walk away. "A human life isn't something to be decided by money. This will be over in a matter of minutes." Clare said. She left the man standing there and walked through the crowd to the end of the street.

The man watched as she rounded the corner she passed a man in a red coat. Despite remaining in the sunlight the shadows refused to alleviate from his face. Twin blue dots shone where his eyes should have been. The man sauntered up the street towards the village chief. The crowd gave the man a wide berth. Not just for his obscured features but also because of the immense sword the man had attached to his back.

Dante smirked; this was going to be fun.

_With Clare…_

Clare and Raki walked down the road away from the town. Shadow rode on Raki's shoulders. The two had become quite the pair and where rarely found without the other. Dante had let the demon stay in the corporal world as long as it didn't cause trouble. All it really did was eat and sleep so Dante didn't care. It hid in Raki's pack when they entered towns and guarded him in the case that a yoma attacked while Dante and Clare were away. The human and the shadow demon, a weird couple indeed.

"How do you think Dante is going to handle the yoma?" Raki asked Clare.

Clare sighed. "With no tact and an unnecessary amount of flair. At this rate we won't need to encounter the organizations warriors to reveal Dante to them."

"Well at least he'll kill it." Raki said assuredly.

Shadow just shook its tiny head.

_With Dante…_

The crowd stared at Dante. No doubt because of his sword… and lack of a shirt. He approached the village chief who was still holding the bag of money with a dumb expression on his face. He stopped in front of the man. Suddenly he pulled out Ivory and fired a shot into the crowd. It flew past several people harmlessly and grazed a man on the cheek. Silence reined as purple blood leaked from the wound.

"Last time I checked human blood was red." Dante said informatively.

The man growled and leapt at Dante, transforming in mid air. Dante put up no resistance as the yoma bore him to the ground. The crowd stood speechlessly as Dante raised a knee into the yoma's gut and it was thrown off him. Dante swung his legs in a circle to propel himself back to his feet.

The yoma got shakily off the ground. "How did you know?" It growled.

"Claymore's ain't the only ones out there who can tell who you guys are." Dante said sarcastically. He dashed forwards and punched the yoma strait in the face. It flew back onto its back and skidded a few feet.

"I normally don't do this for free but I'd hate to let anyone get hurt because they can't pay up." Dante informed the crowd. "My Claymore friend called in a favor so I might as well take this think down."

The yoma picked itself up off the ground, its broken nose covered by a hand. "You're the one the others have been talking about." It growled through clenched teeth. "You're the Redgrave."

Dante tilted his head. "I don't recall leaving anyone alive. Who's been telling the stories?"

The yoma straightened. "You aren't very subtle with your work." It chuckled. It raised an arm at the crowd and another at Dante. "I offer you this ultimatum. You can take the hit or the rest of these precious humans can."

Dante adopted a Chris Angel pose, the grin never leaving his face, his smile showing through the shadows. "Take your best shot."

"Fool!" The yoma yelled as its fingers hyper extended and impaled Dante through the chest. The yoma swung his other arm around and it's other five digits flew and blew through Dante's head. Blood poured out of the wounds, the crowd staring in shock.

Dante continued to smile as he raised Ivory. "Game over." He stated simply as he let loose a thundering barrage from his right hand gun.

"Imposi…" Was all the yoma had time to utter before its body was torn to shreds by the hail of bullets. As it fell its fingers retracted, pulling themselves out of Dante's body.

Dante cracked his neck to work any kinks out. Ivory returned to its holster and Dante turned away from the stunned crowd and left.

_With Clare…_

"I have another mission if it's not too soon. I need you to go to the town of Gonall and assist in an awakened being hunt." Rubel explained calmly as he casually leaned against a tree.

"It's no problem." Clare stated simply.

Rubel smiled knowingly. "Your manners seemed to have improved. What has caused this change?" He asked.

"Does it really matter that much. I seek to stay alive and that means staying in the good graces of the organization." Clare stated. "You where right when you said I wasn't a hero. Stay out of sight and stay alive."

Rubel chuckled. "You flatter me." He smile persisted. "I'll await the completion of your mission." He turned and left, fading into the woods.

Clare stared at his back as he left. _How much does he really know?_

Clare shook her head. He knew nothing. Still, Gonall, that was where Irene was. She didn't want to see her at all. But then again there was the eventuality that she may have to face Vergil. She was going to need every possible advantage that she could muster. She had felt Vergil's power that day.

_Back during Vergil's battle with Luciela…_

Luciela lay panting on the ground, soundly defeated. Back in human form and covered head to two in cuts and blood the abyssal one of the south stared at the man in blue who stood above her.

"I tire of this." Vergil stated matter-o-factly. He raised his right arm and pointed it at Luciela, palm facing towards her.

"I challenge the laws of nature and reason." Vergil intoned as green mandala manifested in front of his palm.

Isley saw what he was doing and yelled, "Everybody down!" before throwing himself to the ground. He'd seen Vergil use this once before and he didn't want to be hit by it when it went off.

"By summoning the power of destruction." Vergil continued as the mandala began to spin. _**"Beruta eimu kuifa kuifa somuta maa kapfh"**_ He chanted. The mandala stopped spinning and disappeared.

"Hadron… fire." Vergil whispered as the world was engulfed in red and black fire and the roar of thunder.

Soon enough the blast stopped and the people were able to see the destruction that Vergil had wrought.

Luciela stared in shock at the trench carved through the ground beside her.

"I missed?" Vergil said as he looked at the whole and still breathing Luciela. He sighed. "It seems I still cannot control this power." He turned to Isley who was still on the ground. "Do as you wish. I'm leaving." With that Vergil waved his hand at the air. A glowing portal manifested and he stepped through it.

_ With Dante, present timeline.…_

Dante calmly walked away from the town when he felt something tugging at his feet. Looking down he saw a glowing portal manifest under his feet.

"Whoa!" Dante yelled as he was sucked under it.

Dante felt air rushing past him as he fell through a shaft filled with chains and fire. Soon enough the shaft opened up into a large cavern and Dante saw the ground rushing up to meet him. He hit the ground and absorbed the shock on his demonically enhanced legs.

"That wasn't nice!" He called out. "Who did that." He looked around and saw nothing but the darkness of the cavern and the glow of magma from the cracks in the rock around him. Suddenly the ground started shaking and Dante was forced to windmill his arms to keep his balance.

The cracks in the ground began to grow wider. Suddenly a gleaming chrome arm pushed its way out of one of the larger cracks. It used the ground as a handhold the pull the rest of itself out to the fissure. Large tusks, spines on its back that resembled the tail pipes of cars and belched flame, and a gleaming body that looked like chrome the beast let out a mighty roar that blew Dante's coat back. Dante felt the power of the roar and knew that any lesser being would probably have been decapitated by the awesomeness of it. Yes, this demon was one of the most badass things that Dante had ever seen.

Dante smiled and pulled out Ebony & Ivory. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" He yelled happily. This was going to be fun.

_**It's over!**_

__**I think I did O.K.**

_**Classifications go like this.**_

_** Quicksword: Speed**_

_** Windcutter: Accuracy**_

_** Million Stab: Power**_

**Please review. If you don't I'll be sad.**


	5. A New Enemy

**I looked at the lack of new chapter and saw that mine wasn't yet at 6,000 words and you know what, fuck it. You guys probably want to see some more so I'm putting this up to tide you over so I can finish writing the Ophelia fight. I also added the omake chapters and Dante's reaction to the new DMC so I can cut down on my chapters to words ratio. I don't know about you but I tend to look for fics with at least 4,000 words per chapter. This chapter will be the first time you get to meet the overall villain of the story. He is not an OC. I'm not going to reveal who he is for a while so as to make you freak out when you finally do find out. This villain is from one of the two verses here but his minions are not. Each of them will be from across the many facets of fandom but will have new backstories so as not to cause a super uber crossover that no one will read. If you don't know them then it will simple just to look up an amv or a wiki summary to get a grasp of their powers and personalities. Relax, this fic will adhere to the main Claymore plot to around the Rabona incident after the timeskip, or it may go further depending on wether or not I like the direction of the new chapters. Miria is dead, that makes me sad.**

* * *

"Where am I?" Clarice muttered as she found herself in an open field consisting of motes of yellow, orange and red light. Suddenly, the ground under her shattered and she was thrown into the air. From the rubble emerged dozens of yoma emerged.

"It's a human!" One yelled.

"A human!" The others yelled.

"It's a little girl!" A few yelled.

Clarice screamed and ran with the yoma following her in a rather comic fashion. Clarice ran through the seemingly endless field of light, screaming all the while. Suddenly she almost plowed into a dark figure which was standing in her path.

"Young one, how does it feel to be 'dead' to the world of humans?" The figure asked.

Clarice gasped. _Dead, how can I be dead?_

"Still, the choice was all yours." The figure continued. Clarice looked down at herself to see that she was bleeding from a wound in her chest.

"To live." The figure finished as just as Clarice managed to make out the figures face, the same of the man that saved her from death.

Clarice felt heat build up in her abdomen and she screamed.

_Organization Conversion Center, Location Classified…_

Clarice's eyes shot open as pain racked her body. It felt like someone had rammed a red hot iron spike into her abdomen, and then that spike had had babies that where crawling through the rest of her body. She writhed and screamed in pain. Several large straps kept her secured to the table that she was laying on. Through the haze of pain Clarice could discern several figures huddled around her. She caught snatches of the conversation that the figures were having as she was ravaged by the agonizing waves of pain that her body was experiencing.

"Operation… success…"

"Yoma tissue… integrated…"

"Exhibits signs… resistance…"

"Break her…"

"Could be… spasms…"

"Trying… free"

"Fine, have your way with her then."

The last part Clarice heard clearly. Even though she was no more than twelve summers old she knew the meaning of what she had just heard. Her fears where confirmed when she felt rough hands begin to work their way across her body.

The man, one of the organizations chief "converters", had a thing for "breaking" new recruits so they would be more docile. He loved it so. The feel of their frail little bodies under his hands. Both on and off the surgical table. His hands roamed the girls quivering body as he prepared to perform the foul deed. He saw the girl react to his touch. Her eyes opened. They were red.

The man's companions, fellow "converters", looked on as there compatriot prepared to violate the child. Their surprise was quite evident when the man's upper torso disappeared in a massive spray of gore.

_Outside the room…_

An organization guard casually walked down the hallway. Swathed in black and carrying a small sword the man conveyed a sense of calm. The sense was crushed by the loud crash, the man by the steel door that had just flown across the hall and splatted him against the wall. A crazed Clarice rushed through the door and down the hallway. The devil bringer active once again, Clarice's body was on autopilot. This time though it wasn't just her arm that had changed. Her eyes, which had lost their glow, still had a red color to them. Her hair, instead of being the brown it was normally, had become a faded silver gray.

As she ran a weapon began to manifest in her left hand. A blade about three and a half feet long, single edged, with a bizarre hilt. Directly at the base of the blade was a 6 chambered cylinder. A gun barrel ran down the top of the blade and a trigger and guard were built into the grip. The words "Praemium Angelus" was written in cursive on both sides of the blade.

She encountered several guards in her search to find an exit. Now this would have been a problem, but then again this situation was best compared to an arachnophobe locked in a room full of spiders. Only this arachnophobe had a baseball bat.

_Several minutes later…_

Clarice finally dashed out into the sun. The light burned her eyes slightly. As soon as she did she felt a fist plant itself into her stomach. As she doubled over the same fist hit her in the jaw, shattering bone. She feel to the ground, once she hit a heavy boot stamped on her sternum. Clarice's head lolled to the side and she fell unconscious, but not before catching the fading shapes of two people. One of them spoke and she caught the words he said as she drifted into the realm of slumber.

"Interesting, it seems that Vergil's bastard daughter is good for something after all."

The person turned to address the other man there. "Go, clean up the survivors, I don't want anyone to know what really happened here."

The other there, a man in a black and yellow outfit with a clear skeleton motif nodded, cracked his neck and flexed his arms. He then walked into the organizations base.

The owner of the voice bent over and touched the back of Clarice's body. The devil bringer receded and Clarice's hair returned to its dull brown color. The gunblade disappeared as well.

"That should help you fit in more. You're powers will return when you need them again."

Screams issued from the inside the base followed by the sounds of blades hitting flesh. A yell of, "Get over here!" was heard. Soon the screams ceased as the skeleton man returned. "Good. Burn the place to the ground. The organization should assume an awakened being was responsible."

The skeleton man nodded again as he raised his right hand. Flames gathered in his palm and formed a sphere. The man hurled the sphere into the depths of the organizations base. The area was immolated instantly and the massive pulses of yoki were released.

"How do you think Dante is doing against Ormagöden?" The skeleton man asked.

"If he lives up to my expectations, he should be doing well. Let's go Scorpion."

The skeleton man, now dubbed as Scorpion, clenched his fist and both of them disappeared in a puff of ash.

_With Dante…_

Dante wasn't doing very well. And this was just the monkey winding up for the toss. This demon wasn't going down. He'd tried quite a few tactics but none of them worked. Thinking he could freeze the demon he called Cerberus into his hand and proceeded to wail at the giant with the grace and skill of a certain actor and martial artist. It didn't work. The only thing that saved Dante from being pancaked was a well timed Ice Age. The rapidly rotating sphere of ice tore off half of the demons massive fist. Dante watched with annoyance as the limb regenerated.

"You can heal. So what, I'll still kick your ass!" Dante yelled mockingly as he dodged another punch. He slammed Cerberus into the ground and watched as the ice crystals surrounded the monsters fist. The monster ripped its fist from the ground and shattered the ice with a mighty unclenching of its fist.

_O.K. This isn't working. Agni & Rudra are out of the question. Getting in to close with this guy is a bad idea so no Beowulf. That leaves Rebellion and Nevan. _Dante thought quickly. Dante unslung Rebellion and hurled it at the demons head. Said demon let out another roar and Rebellion got caught up in the wind and was blown back at Dante, who deftly caught it. One reversing of his grip later a drive was headed towards the massive demon. The drive struck one of its forelegs and caused it to drop forwards. Dante wasted no time in dashing forwards and began a sequence of brutally fast strikes that made up the Dance Macabre. However, after the million stab, instead of transitioning into a spinning kick he slashed downwards and used the momentum of the swing to reverse his grip on the sword. He delivered two brutal backhand strokes to the demons face. Then taking a batters stance he swung at the demon, triggering as he did so.

"Get out of here!" Dante growled as the blow connected, launching the demon across the chamber to land heavily on its back. He let his demonic transformation ebb away.

"Had enough?" Dante called mockingly. It was a taunt he almost regretted making a few seconds later.

The demon rose to its feet and let out another powerful roar. It looked angry, really angry.

The monkey let loose the flying blob of defecation that flew straight and true into the blades of the air moving contraption. To put it simply, Dante's fraggle rocks were now about a half inch away from the metaphorical band saw.

The mighty beast of chrome and fire charged, flame shooting from the spikes on its back. It swung at Dante, who barely managed to bring up Rebellion to block. The block did little however as Dante was launched across the chamber and into the side of the massive cavern. Spider web cracks arched around him. _Ouch..._

Dante pulled himself out of the indentation and launched himself back at the demon. He swung at its head as soon as he came within reach. He scored a few hits but the demons chrome like skin flowed into the cuts and soon enough it was like the wounds had never existed at all. The demon lashed out with one of its hind legs which Dante twisted to avoid. He landed behind the demon and brought his hands up in a defensive gesture. The demon swung around and laced its fingers together. It then brought its hands down on Dante in with a smashing motion. The royal guard styles force field held out for the first blow. The hit was so powerful Dante could feel that he had reached the styles capacity for absorbed energy. De demon brought its hands down again and Dante reached up with his hand held in a closed palm, fingers tight against themselves. The resulting explosion sent Dante about a meter into the floor and the demon across the room, minus an arm.

Dante tried to get up and found that he couldn't. He was crushed to deep into the stone. He could hear the demon getting up. A glow at the top of the chamber caught his eye. He watched as it formed an intricate mandala with a pentagram in the center. He watched as the points of the star struggled to break the containment of the circle that surrounded them. He knew as soon as it did he was finished. If it didn't kill him outright he would be too weak to continue on fighting.

Dante felt heat on his chest. He raised his head to look down and saw that his amulet was glowing. _What, mom's necklace?_ He thought feebly as he felt himself drawn into the ruby depths of the gem.

_Gemworld…_

Dante found himself floating in a nimbus of white. Everything around him was obscured. _Am I dead? _Dante wondered. _If I am heaven is certainly a bad place to have a hangover._

"You're not dead yet silly." Came a voice that Dante had not heard in a twelve years. He turned towards the voice. Across from him was a woman who could have been on the cover of any magazine if she had decided to pursue such a goal. Blonde hair framed a perfectly shaped face that held a look to it that just radiated peace and caring. A simple dress of white adorned her body.

"Mom…" Dante choked out.

Eva smiled. "Yes."

Dante had crossed the distance between them in a second and reached out to touch Eve's face. Hoping beyond hope that what he saw before him was real. Eva intercepted her son's hands with her own. "I'm real Dante."

Dante then did something that no one who knew him would believe he was capable of doing. He wept. Eva's arms circled around his back and hugged him to her; all the while she whispered motherly things into Dante's ears.

"But you died, I saw you." Dante whispered between sobs.

"In body but never in soul. Didn't your father teach you that?" Eva asked. "As long as you wear that amulet I'll always be with you."

She raised a hand to his shoulder. "Let me be your armor Dante. Let's beat this thing together."

_Real world, Cavern of the Ancients…_

Ormagöden watched in satisfaction as its awesome attack unleashed itself upon the boy. The crater where he lay and everything within a twenty foot radius was engulfed in a massive gout of hellfire.

The grater demons surprise was very clear when the from the fire a figure rose from the molten rock. Spiked armor and a fearsome helmeted head through which glowing air emitted as the figure took a breath.

"Alright ugly, time for round two." Dante called, his voice sounding like it was issuing from a tin can.

Dante beckoned the behemoth with his right hand. With the other he summoned Nevan. Dante could feel the weight of the armor pressing down on him and he knew that his speed a taken a big hit. With no choice but to attack from a distance. Dante got into an attack pose and began to belt out one of the greatest solo's he knew.

_A7-G9b-D7__-7-9-7-9-7-9-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-4-5-4-5-4-5-4-5-4-5_ Dante ticked off in his head. The resulting maelstrom of bats that surrounded him and his foe took up the majority of the cavern. It was epic to say the least. There was probably enough electricity, Dante thought absently, to rival that of which Tony Stark could build in a cave, with a box or scraps.

The cavern shook and stones fell from the ceiling. As the storm cleared Dante looked disdainfully at the demon that was still standing.

"Ha Ha Ha. That will not stop me, half-breed boy." Ormagöden chuckled weakly in a voice that sounded like the scraping of metal on rock. It had weathered the attack but it knew it couldn't take another.

"That's why I have this." Dante replied simply as he raised Kallina Ann to his shoulder and fired. The rocket flew straight and true and into the demons mouth. The resulting explosion turned Ormagöden head into a pile of slag.

"Thank you Lady." Dante said as he patted the missile launcher affectionately. _Pity I never got a chance to give this back to her._

The cavern started to shake as the cracks in the floor started to get bigger. _That's not good._

Dante began to run, or walk quickly as it were; the armor was heavy, towards the center of the room. Gazing up he looked at the shaft that ascended up.

"You have bested me half-breed." Ormagöden's voice uttered from the chambers walls. "Take this trophy and go." Out of a fissure beside Dante a very elaborate looking gun rose up. It appeared to be made of black metal and had many instruments on the side of it. It sported five unraveling chambers, and had a menacing look that made it resemble a revolver.

"This is the Death Penalty. Wield it well, or give it to someone who will wield it better." Ormagöden's voice instructed. "My… employer requires my report on this."

Dante's fists clenched. "Employer!" He muttered. "Who's employing you, tell me!" The cracks started to grow wider. Dante looked back up the shaft. _Guess I've gotta go up._

Dante willed the armor to retract and felt it dissipate around him. Dante triggered again and spread his wings. "Time to fly!" He shouted as he kicked off, the Death Penalty clutched in his hand. He flew up through the shaft and dodged around the chains that protruded from the walls. Soon enough he saw the end of the shaft coming up to meet him. Raising his newfound weapon forwards he pulled the trigger. A black beam of energy fired from the weapons five barrels and blew a hole through the stone. Dante tucked his wings around himself and flew through the hole. Sunlight blinded him momentarily as he reached the surface. He landed heavily. He heard screaming. His vision quickly cleared and he saw that he was in the middle of town. People where staring at him a pointing. All were frozen in fear. To them he surely looked like a demon from the depths of hell. Well to be perfectly honest that's pretty much what he was and were he came from.

Dante felt something pull one of his wings. He glanced down to see a small girl, probably about three, pulling at him. "Excuse me, are you a yoma?" The little girl asked. Another scream issued from the crowd as a woman dashed madly forwards and grabbed her child. Shielding the small girl with her body the woman began pleading.

"Please don't eat my daughter!" the woman cried as she hugged her daughter tightly to her.

Dante stared at the woman. He reached out towards her. The crowd gasped. Dante's hand came to rest on the young girls head. "Cute kid." Dante said calmly. He turned and started to walk away. "Now can someone please tell me where the hell I am?"

No one answered. Dante rolled his eyes and sighed. He reached out with his mind to try to locate Shadow. Succeeding he began to walk in that direction. The crowd parted before him and he walked past them. "Sayonara" he called as he left the town. Once he was safely away he untriggered and began to dash off in the direction he had felt Shadow in. They were pretty far away, but Dante could run for a long time.

_With Clare…_

Shadow jumped off Raki's shoulders and scampered forwards to Clare. It jumped up and latched onto her shoulder. Clare glanced over at the diminutive creature.

"So Dante got sucked into a demonic portal and had to fight a giant demon made of metal and lava. He beat the demon and escaped the cave he was in. He then appeared in the middle of a town and left promptly due to the fact that he was in Devil Trigger. He is now making all haste towards us and will meet up with us at about the time we get to Gonall." The diminutive creature nodded. Clare wondered at the oddity that no one could hear what Shadow said yet people automatically understood exactly what he meant. Well, at least it was better than him spouting of random words that made no sense but you still understood. That story Dante told Raki one night was so weird. How does one deflect a bullet with their hair.

**

* * *

**

**Did anyone get the reference there. Huh, did ya. Well anyway this is the end of what I've got so far. Also, for those of you who like action I have a suggestion. Go to youtube and look up Dead Fantasy. If you thought FF7 Advent children was epic then you ain't see shit. It's a crossover between Final Fantasy and Dead or Alive. Even if you know next to nothing about the stories of the characters it doesn't matter. There are five episodes so far. Try to find the ones that have HD in the title. Also, there is another animation by the same guy called Haloiod. All you need to know is that Master Chief drop kicks a Pelican. Watch them and tell me what you think.**

**Omake Series #1**

**These pay no attention to continuity and take place in both the Canon Claymore verse and the fic verse. These will have no effect on the story as a whole. Two of the omakes, Movie Night and Dimension Demon will be multipart and continued at the end of later published chapters. **

(Note: The opinions of the characters are what the authors inferred the characters opinions would be. Please don't take any of this literally and this is just an attempt at humor.)

**Omake #1 How The Times Have Changed**

Dante, Clare and Raki trudged through the woods as night slowly fell. The entire group scanned the forest for a suitable campsite. Soon enough they found a patch of empty ground in the center of a bunch of closely packed trees.

"Few, time for a break." Dante sighed happily as he sat down heavily.

Clare looked down to her lounging compatriot and rolled her eyes. "Raki, go get a few faggots for the fire."

Dante's eyes went wide.

"How many faggots?" Raki asked.

Dante's eyes grew even wider.

"About three should do it." Clare returned.

Dante looked at her weirdly. "Um, am I hearing this right? You want faggots for the fire."

"Yes. Is there something wrong?" Clare asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you want to burn people on a fire!" Dante half shouted.

"People?" Clare asked.

"Yes, despite what many people may think faggots are still people. Majorly screwed up in the head and in the need of some real love, but people none the less!" Dante yelled.

"Sticks are people? Dante, have you been drinking?" Clare asked with one blond eyebrow raised.

"Sticks…" Dante said in monotone. Clare could almost imagine a little hamster inside a wheel in his head suddenly tripping and falling on its face.

"Faggot. You know, a bundle of sticks." Clare explained.

Dante's left eye twitched. "I thought you meant gay people." He muttered.

"Gay people?" Clare asked. "What does being happy have to do with being burned on a fire."

Dante promptly facefaulted.

Raki chose this exact moment to show up.

"What's wrong with Dante?" He asked as he dropped the sticks he had brought with him.

Clare picked up one of the sticks and started poking Dante with it. "I can't tell."

"I wonder what he meant by gay and faggot meaning something other than bundle of sticks?" Clare muttered as she continued poking Dante.

**Omake #2 Love Of My Life**

Raki casually sat in a chair as he waited for Isley to find him. He was working on how he was going to ask Isley to help him find Clare.

His musings were shattered as Isley promptly booted down the door with such force that it reduced the door to splinters.

"Raki!" Isley growled. "Have you been having thoughts about Priscilla that are less then dignified?"

Raki went pale. "Maybe…"

Isley started to turn purple. "Rage!" He yelled menacingly.

Raki thought quickly. "If it helps she's the only one for me." He uttered quickly as he shifted in his seat.

"In your dreams!" Isley shot back as he ripped a sword from its bracket on the wall.

At that moment Raki's common sense took a trip on vacation as he thought back on his dreams.

"Try stopping me there…" He muttered as blood began to drip from his nose. "Usually there's two of her.

"RAGE!" Isley yelled as he leapt forwards with the intent to break Raki's kneecaps. "I'm going to get you for this!"

Raki barely managed to roll out of the way as the chair was reduced to splinters. "Look, if having dirty dreams about Priscilla is a crime, why don't you kill your entire army?"

Isley's eyes widened. "RAGE!" he screamed again.

**Movie Night Series Part 1**

It was Friday night at Dante's office. All of his friends where there. He had an ocean of booze and a crap ton of junk food. This meant only one thing. It was movie night!

He sat Clare, Miria, Helen, Deneve and Raki down onto a large couch. The broken in kind that had been through many a party and was possibly the most comfortable thing Dante owned. He himself plopped down between Clare and Helen. Heck, with enough booze he was hoping for second base or better.

"So, what exactly is a movie?" Clare asked.

"Well, you've seen paintings right?" Dante asked.

"Yes." Clare answered.

"It's a painting that moves and speaks." Dante said.

"Interesting." Clare responded in monotone.

Dante huffed in annoyance and grabbed the remote. "O.K. are you girls ready."

There was a mutual acknowledgement of approval. Dante hit play.

**"****Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!"** The TV's surround sound speakers roared.

"Saywhatnow." Helen uttered.

"It's Swahili I think." Dante said as the song continued to play.

"Swahili?" Miria asked. "Who speaks it."

"Africans" Dante said.

"What's an African?" Deneve asked.

"A person from Africa." Helen said.

"Shut up, I want to see this." Miria muttered as she watched the animals on the screen start to move towards a large rock.

"Why is that bird bowing to that lion?" Helen asked.

"He's the king." Dante answered.

"Now they're all going apeshit for the baby." Helen continued.

"He's the prince." Dante explained.

**THE LION KING**

The group stared at the tv. The settled back down as the movie cut into a cave.

"**Life's not fair, is it? You see I… well, I... shall never be King. And you... shall never see the light of another day."**

"Do not like." Helen said as she looked at Scar.

Dante took that moment to leave and go to the kitchen. Gathering Twinkies, popcorn, M&Ms he returned to the group who took their snacks without question.

The group sat and watched the movie. Helen asking the occasional question. The women loved the singing and dancing scenes and Helen shouted out in triumph when it was revealed that Scar was plotting against Mufasa.

Soon enough the stampede scene arrived and Dante bowed out of the room again. This time instead of Candy he grabbed booze, and lots of it. He returned to the group just as the dust had begun to clear in the move.

"**Dad!"**

Helen gulped.

"**Dad?"**

Miria winced.

"**Dad? ...Dad, come on. You gotta get up. Dad. We gotta go home. HEEEEELP! Somebody! Anybody... help." **

_And here come the tears. _Dante thought as he broke the seal on the top of a bottle of whisky with a deft twist of his hand.

"I think part of my soul just died." Clare uttered, an upset look on her face. Raki was crying noticeably. Deneve and Miria were fighting back tears and Helen… Helen was alternating between bawling and shifting down the whiskey that Dante had handed her.

"This is going to be a long night." Dante muttered as he opened another bottle.

** Dimension Demon Series Part 1**

Dante flew out of a portal and unceremoniously slammed into a girl in chair that was sitting in a chair. Unbeknownst to him he knocked the syringe out of her hand and onto the floor. The girl screamed and frantically scooted across the floor against the wall.

"Ugh, where am I?" Dante groaned as he glanced over at the girl who was shaking with fear. "Oh hi."

The girl then actually then noticed that it was in fact a man picking himself up off the floor in front of her instead of the blade armed, screaming, reanimated corpse that she was expecting.

"You're not one of them?" The girl asked fearfully, still seeking some assurance.

"One of who?" Dante said as he stood up. He held out a hand to the girl who tentatively took it. Dante took notice to the room he was in. It was made mostly of metal with what looked like holographic displays.

"The monsters." The girl whispered.

Suddenly, at that moment the doors to the room burst open and one of the aforementioned blade armed, screaming, reanimated corpses came hurtling through. Dante, thinking quickly, used his body to shield the girl from the thing. He felt pain as the blades pierced his back and came through his chest. He felt the blades pull back and he turned around quickly and bifurcated the creature with his sword. When it didn't die he stamped on its chest causing it's head to pop off.

"Oh, them." He muttered. The girl stared at him dumbstruck as the wounds in his back healed. He place Rebellion back on his back.

"You got a name?" He asked the girl.

"Nicole." She answered breathlessly.

"Dante." Dante responded. "O.K. I don't know where the hell I am but I'll help you out. Just stay behind me."

_Several hours later…_

The USG Kellion crashed into the hanger bay. After a brief check to see if everyone was still standing the crew prepared to disembark. They stopped when they heard a shout of "Sweat Dreams!" and saw a blade armed, screaming, reanimated corpse smash into the front window of the space craft like a giant bug.

Soon enough there was a knocking on a the side bulkhead and a yell to open up. The engineer on the ship, a man by the name of Isaac Clarke, hesitantly popped the hatch. No sooner had he opened it when he saw who awaited him. Dante, calmly tapping his foot… and Nicole. Nicole likewise saw Isaac and they both speechlessly embraced.

"OK, you to lovebirds can stay together. I'm gonna go get rid of that damn rock in the dock." Dante said as he turned to leave. He waved casually over his shoulder.

"Who was that guy?" Isaac asked Nicole as soon as Dante was out of sight.

"His names Dante, he didn't say anything else." Nicole returned.

Elseware in the ship Dante hurried back to where the giant artifact was stowed. He loaded it onto the shuttle and after dispatching several more of the blade armed, screaming, reanimated corpses he prepared to launch.

"I've always wanted to do this!" Dante yelled happily as he powered out of the landing bay. It was time to go put this thing back where it belonged.

**Omake #3 Dante's reaction to DMC reboot trailer.**

Dante calmly sat in front of the computer screen. He didn't move. Then all of a sudden he flipped the desk, sending it crashing against the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL DID THE FUCKING DO TO ME!" Dante raged as he started to cleave the objects in the room to pieces with rebellion.

"FUCK FUCKING FUCK FUCK!" Dante screamed as he released drives into the walls around him.

After swearing and screaming for a good fifteen minutes Dante stopped suddenly. He calmly walked out of his office. He got onto his bike and drove for a while. Soon enough he arrived at a lovely suburban home. He promptly walked up to the door and knocked.

The door opened and a face looked out through the door. "Dante… It's four in the morning. What the hell do you want?" Nero mumbled sleepily.

Dante pulled the door open further. "Do you have a computer?"

"Why, break yours again?" Nero mumbled, still not awake.

_Five minutes later…_

"So I'm not even in the new one?" Nero asked, now very much awake.

"No…" Dante growled. He got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Nero asked.

Dante turned and held up a gas can. "First to Capcom, then ninja theory. It's time we put some fucking chlorine in the executive gene pool."


End file.
